cheer princess
by linkiepie2214
Summary: this is before twilight went into the human world but celestia followed sunset into the mirror and both are stuck there for the next 30 moons but they do not know that. react m to be safe. not my story i am post this from link: /story/327743/1/cheer-princess/side-celestia-prologue . hope you all like.
1. Chapter 1 clestia porlog

**_this is the first chapter in the funfic that I am bring over from someone isles but i put a link to the person who created this so go and show them you support_**

She didn't think. She just jumped through the portal.

Dimly, she was aware of the guards crying out behind her. She ignored them. Her only thought was the amber unicorn with the fiery mane and the Cutie Mark which was so similar to her own. Her student. Her proudest achievement in many years.

Her greatest failure in many centuries.

 _*No. I will_ _ **not**_ _fail you, Sunset Shimmer. I will_ _ **not**_ _have another Nightmare Moon on my conscience.*_

Colors swirled around her, and she felt her body shift, swirl, come apart, reassemble. It was a sensation she was familiar with from her long experience travelling from world to world with Starswirl.

She emerged from the bright tunnel of kaleidoscope colors into a dark, cool night. A light breeze brushed across her bare arms, raising goosebumps. She staggered for a moment as her body adjusted to its new center of gravity.

 _*Biped. Non-hooved species. Human, I think it was called? No magic, no wings.*_

"Well, well, this is an interesting development," a familiar voice said from nearby.

A few feet away, a girl stood with her back to Celestia. She wore black boots, a short orange skirt, and a black jacket. Waves of copper and gold hair cascaded down her back, and her bare hands and thighs were a fair peach-amber color.

"Sunset Shimmer, please! You must come back!" Celestia called.

Sunset turned, her teal eyes wide in surprise. "So you followed me," she said. "Why bother? We're through, remember? I'm no longer your student!"

"I was angry!" Celestia cried in despair, unconsciously clenching her new hands into fists at her sides. "I made a mistake! I..." She bowed her head. "Sunset, please...I don't want it to end like this. Not...not again. I've made this mistake before, I—"

With a whoosh of wind and a flash of light, the portal closed behind her.

Celestia's eyes widened. She turned and ran to the statue, pressing her hands against its smooth marble surface. "No," she whispered. "No..."

Sunset laughed. "Looks like I won't be going back to Equestria after all!" she exclaimed. "And neither will you, _Princess!_ Not for another thirty moons!"

Celestia slid slowly down the statue, her forehead pressed against the cold stone. "No," she repeated.

"I think I'll just leave you here to cry and whine while I see what this world has to offer," Sunset sneered.

"Sunset, wait—!" Celestia began, rising to her feet as quickly as she could and turning around, reaching out a hand.

Sunset ignored her, running away into the night. Celestia chased after her, but was forced to stop when a large metal carriage rolled to a stop in her path, roaring like an angry manticore. Celestia fell to the ground just short of the carriage, landing on all fours; the pavement stung her palms and her knees, and her breath came in heavy, ragged gasps.

"Are you alright?" a hauntingly familiar voice asked. Celestia looked up; a window had opened in the metal carriage, and a human woman with light blue skin and wavy midnight-blue hair peered out at her with dark opal eyes.

"I...I think so," Celestia said. She slowly stood up, placing a hand over her hammering heart and taking a slow, deep breath. "I need to stop her...Sunset Shimmer..."

The woman in the carriage tilted her head. "Are you talking about the girl in the leather jacket that just ran past? Is she a friend of yours?"

"She is my student. Or was."

The woman raised an eyebrow. "Student? But...you don't look any older than she is. I mean, you're both teenagers."

Celestia blinked. "Teenagers...?"

Suddenly, the woman gasped, leaning further out of her window. Her carriage lurched forward; she did something out of Celestia's sight, and it jerked to a halt. _"Tia?!"_

Celestia frowned. "Do I...do I know you?"

The woman shook her head. "No, I'm...I'm seeing things," she said distractedly.

Celestia studied the woman. There was something _disturbingly_ familiar about her, like an old memory tickling at the back of her mind. She straightened the white dress she wore, then looked past the carriage. There was no sign of Sunset Shimmer. She sighed. "She's gone..."

The woman in the carriage gave her a troubled frown. "Can...can I offer you a ride anywhere?"

Celestia swallowed. "I...I don't have anywhere to go," she admitted. "I'm not from around here."

The woman frowned. "Hmm. An orphan, or perhaps a runaway?"

"A...foreigner," Celestia hedged. "I'm lost and have no way to return home."

The woman in the carriage sighed. "Well, a girl your age really shouldn't be running around in the streets this time of night. If you don't have a place to stay, I suppose I could let you spend the night at my place."

Celestia considered that. "I—"

"I assure you, it's safer and warmer than being out here in the streets," the woman said. "As hot as it gets in the daytime this time of year, the nights are still quite chilly, especially when you're dressed like that. That's to say nothing of, well..." She trailed off.

Celestia frowned. "There are...dangerous individuals who lurk in the darkness?"

"You could say that," the woman said mildly.

"Then I really need to find Sunset Shimmer without delay," Celestia said.

The woman grimaced. "Do you even know where she might have gone?"

Celestia blinked, then sighed. "No," she admitted. "She is as lost here as I am."

"Then the best thing you can do right now is take care of yourself," the woman said. "I'm more than happy to let you spend the night at my house, but tomorrow I'll need to take you to the police so they can try to help you. They can also find your friend, if they haven't already found her by morning. Come on, get in."

Celestia eyed the carriage warily. The woman watched her. After a moment, she frowned, jerking her head to the opposite side of the carriage. "You getting in or what?" she asked impatiently.

Celestia walked around the carriage, examining it curiously, feeling a hot wind from its rear stir the hem of her dress as she passed behind it. When she reached the opposite side, she studied the metal wall of the vehicle. There was a handle set into the door. She tried lifting it, and the door opened. Mentally taking note of this, she slid into the plush seat, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Seat belt," the woman said.

"Pardon?"

The woman tugged at the fabric strap which lay across her own chest, then motioned to something over her left shoulder. "This can't be your first time in a car," she said disbelievingly.

"Actually, it is." Celestia looked to her right and found a shiny bit of metal, which she took hold of and pulled. A similar fabric strap pulled loose from the wall of the carriage; she fumbled around with her left hand until she found something that felt like it probably connected to the strap. After a bit of effort, she heard a sharp click, and the strap secured in place.

"Good, all buckled up!" The woman chuckled; the carriage began to move. "By the way, my name is Luna. I'm the Vice Principal of Canterlot High School."

Celestia's heart nearly stopped. "L- _LUNA?!_ "

"That's _Miss_ Luna to you, young lady," Luna said. She glanced to her right...then nearly ran the carriage off the road. The vehicle jerked to a sudden stop, and Luna turned to fully face Celestia. "Oh my god," she breathed. "You...you really do look _exactly_ like my sister Celestia."

"Sister...?" Celestia said slowly, eyes wide.

"What's your name?" Luna asked insistently.

"My name is...my name is Celestia," Celestia said numbly.

"No, seriously, what's your name?" Luna asked again.

"I'm telling you, my name is Celestia!" She looked away. "And...and I had a sister named Luna...a very long time ago."

"What happened to her?"

Celestia shook her head. "I'd...rather not talk about it."

Luna pursed her lips, her brow furrowed in thought. With a small grunt, she set the carriage in motion again. "So, why were you chasing that other girl? Did she steal something from you?"

"Huh? Oh...no," Celestia said. "I...I made a mistake. I was angry with her for disobeying me, and I banished her from my castle."

"Castle?" Luna asked with a chuckle. "What, are you a princess or something?"

"Actually, yes," Celestia said.

Luna glanced at her for a moment, then laughed. "Oh, I get it," she said. "You're talking about an online game. She's in your guild or something and you had a fight and you kicked her out, right?"

Celestia blinked. "Umm..." _*I didn't understand a single word of that.*_

"Yeah, I've had that happen a few times," Luna said, her eyes back on the road. "Internet drama, it's a real bitch." After a moment, she asked, "So what school do you go to?"

"School?" Celestia asked. "No, I—I don't go to school."

Luna frowned. "A dropout, huh? Can't say I approve of that."

"No, I—" Celestia paused. _*If I try to tell her I'm the ruler of an entire nation, she'll probably think I'm insane.*_ "I, umm...finished school a long time ago."

Luna groaned. "Ugh. One of _those_. Kid prodigies...never liked 'em. They make me feel stupid. We had a kid come into CHS a few years ago who was nine. Nine! Graduated before he turned twelve. Little brat."

"May I ask a question?" At Luna's nod, Celestia said, "This place...what is it? This city."

Luna snorted. "You don't even know what city you're in? Seriously?" She glanced at Celestia, whose eyes were sincere and upset. She sighed. "Canterlot. This is Canterlot. The Ponyville suburb, specifically."

 _*Canterlot...Ponyville.*_ Celestia's brow furrowed as her mind began racing. "So Baltimare would be northeast, Las Pegasus far to the west, and Seaddle on the northwest coast? And Manehattan on the northeast coast, by the sea?"

"That's right," Luna said. "Congratulations, you know basic geography."

"And...and the name of this kingdom. What is it?"

Luna barked out a laugh. _"Kingdom?!"_ She shook her head, chuckling. "This is the United States of Cavallonia. We haven't had a king in over two hundred years."

Celestia tilted her head. "A republic?"

"Democratic republic, yes," Luna said. She coasted to a stop at a red light and spared Celestia another glance. "You sound surprised. You're...you're not kidding about not being from around here, are you?"

Celestia decided to take a risk. "No. I'm from the Kingdom of Equestria."

"Never heard of it," Luna said. "Is it in Ewerope?"

"No, it's—nevermind. It's not important." Celestia's mind raced as she sorted the bits of information she'd gleaned from Luna.

 _*This world...it's clearly a parallel Equestria. That would explain why the humans living here have such...ungulate names for their nations and cities. Then this must truly be the parallel of my own sister. But there's so many things that don't make sense...*_

"How about some music?" Luna fiddled with something on the console in front of her, and a wall of noise assaulted Celestia. It sounded similar to the rock and roll she'd heard a few times in Equestria, only harder and louder.

Several minutes later, the vehicle slowed, turning into a shorter stretch of pavement that led up to a medium-sized house whose outside lights were on. Celestia studied the house absently; in the dark, she couldn't make out many details, but there were trees in the yard and hedges here and there. The rumbling of the carriage ceased, as did the loud music.

"Alright, this is the house my sister and I share...and she does not appear to be home yet." Luna's lips thinned. "You'll be staying with us tonight at the very least, but...I find myself _very_ curious as to why you have the same name as my sister, not to mention why you look so much like she did when we were teenagers."

"Ahh..." Celestia hedged. "I'm...starting to get an idea of what's going on here, but I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

Luna grunted, but got out of the carriage; Celestia removed her seat belt and did likewise. She followed the woman who bore her sister's name—but looked so very little like her—to the side of the house, where Luna unlatched a simple wooden gate and opened it before unlocking a small door set into the back of the house. Celestia followed her in, looking curiously around as a series of overhead lights flickered on.

The house was full of things Celestia didn't recognize, as well as some she did. There were large, boxy chunks of metal in the room they'd entered, over which sat wooden cupboards. Through a door, they walked into a room full of countertops, steel sinks, and more chunky metal things—one of which Celestia recognized as an oven, and another which looked like a refrigerator. There were others she couldn't place, but it was obvious to her this was the kitchen.

More lights came on, and Celestia followed Luna into what had to be the living room. The floor had a dark wine carpet, and tastefully upholstered furniture was arranged in a semicircle at the center of the room; there were shelves full of photos and knick-knacks and more things Celestia didn't recognize, mostly piled up on a large piece of furniture that covered most of one wall.

"I don't suppose you have a cell phone?" Luna asked as she walked through the living room toward a hall on the other side.

"I have no idea what that is," Celestia answered absently, following her.

Luna stopped and stared at her. "How can a teenage girl in this day and age not know what a cell phone is?"

"I...I'm sorry," Celestia said with a nervous laugh. "There are a _lot_ of things here I've never seen or even heard of before."

Luna looked her up and down, a thoughtful frown on her face. "Good lord, the resemblance is uncanny," she said, shaking her head. "You really do look _exactly_ like Tia." She sighed. "Well, let me show you the guest room. If Tia isn't home yet, that means she's probably bringing dinner. I hope she picked up pizza." She paused, then pulled something small, flat, and shiny out of her pocket. Her hand moved across it for a moment; after staring at it intently, she sighed. "She's bringing home fried chicken," Luna announced. "That should feed all three of us; she usually gets enough so she can have cold chicken later."

Luna started walking again; Celestia followed her. She was led into a small, sparsely decorated room with a plain wooden dresser, a soft-looking bed with a lavender comforter, and a tall mirror with a wooden frame. She stepped in front of the mirror and looked herself up and down.

Celestia had only vague knowledge of humans, having seen this world only once before, centuries earlier. At the time, she had never seen herself as a human. She could easily tell that she was much younger than the woman who claimed to be Luna. Her hair retained its vibrant hues, but was pulled back in a high ponytail and held in place by a scrunchie with two glittery golden beads. Tiny sun-shaped gold earrings graced her absurdly small earlobes, and a thin gold chain necklace with a rhombus-cut amethyst pendant hung around her neck. Her hairless skin was a milky pinkish-white and unblemished, save for tiny scratches and specks of dirt on her hands and knees. She wore a loose, diaphanous white sundress and matching sandals. She tilted her head as she studied herself in the mirror, turning this way and that.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you've never seen your own reflection before," Luna quipped.

"I haven't," Celestia said without thinking. "I mean...not recently."

"Hmm." Luna shook her head. "You're a strange girl..."

The sound of a door opening and closing filled the house, followed by Celestia's own voice calling out, "Luna! I'm back! Come on into the kitchen, I'm starving!"

Luna sighed. "We'll be there in a minute, Tia," she replied. "Come on, let's get you washed up and then we'll eat."

Celestia followed Luna to the bathroom, where both women washed their hands. They then returned to the kitchen; as they drew closer, Celestia heard her own voice say, "Do we have a guest?"

"We do indeed," Luna said with an amused chuckle. They entered the kitchen, and Celestia was brought up short by the woman standing there.

"I...I thought I knew what to expect, but this is incredible," she breathed as she looked at the tall woman. "You're...you're _me_."

The adult Celestia looked at her in stark disbelief, eyes wide and mouth slack. She blinked twice. "Luna? Who...what..."

"Celestia," Luna said in a dry tone, "meet Celestia."

Princess Celestia slumped down into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, her eyes never leaving her doppelganger. The taller Celestia mirrored her actions, eyes equally wide with disbelief. "What...the...hell?"

"My thoughts exactly," Luna said. "Now, how about that chicken?"

 _ **this is the first chapter in the funfic that I am bring over from someone isles but i put a link to the person who created this so go and show them you support and into i put up the next chapter for this fic see you all.**_


	2. Chapter 2 sunset porlog

_**Hello all you who have come here to read this fic here's chapter 2 and just so all you know i have all the chapters for this saved so i can update when i want to but the person who created this first only has 8 chapters up and i have them all save and ready to upload and i be waiting for this person to update they story but i just mate put some fillers chapters in the mix for you guys and gals to have something to read.**_

Sunset smirked as she glanced over her shoulder to see her mentor brought up short by a strange metal carriage. Laughing, she sprinted off into the night; adrenaline and the thrill of having put one over on her mentor heightened her senses and awareness of her new body, making her able to adjust to the strange bipedal movement and the massive shift in her center of gravity far more easily than she rationally knew she should have.

She also wasn't paying anywhere near as close attention to where she was going as she should have. A loud screech and a blaring horn were her only warning before something struck her painfully and she found herself sprawled on the hard, unforgiving pavement.

Harsh, unnatural light swam over Sunset. She heard more noise, followed by shouting. She tried to focus through the pain and forced herself to look up, squinting against the harsh light that was coming from somewhere close.

"Are—are you alright?" a male voice asked. Groaning, she looked up. A silhouette hovered over her, swimming around the edges of her pain-filled, blurry vision. She realized her eyes were filling with tears and squeezed them shut against the blinding light and hot pain. Then, she heard a loud, startled gasp, followed by the same voice yelling her name in a surprised tone, then a barely intelligible burst of murmuring that sounded as though it came from miles away:

"Oh god, oh god, oh god...yes, I need an ambulance at the corner of Thiessen and Haber, I just hit a girl with my car and I think it's my runaway daughter...yes...thank you, oh god..."

The light didn't seem as bright anymore, but Sunset's eyes refused to open.

"Hang on honey, oh god, I'm sorry...Sunset, just hang on..."

"—but really, I have to say this is the damnedest way I've ever seen a runaway case solve itself."

Sunset slowly blinked her eyes open against a harsh white glare. She heard something beeping softly from her left side. She felt a firm, thin mattress underneath her back, and a thin sheet and blanket covering her.

Everything _hurt_...but also didn't hurt at the same time, as a sort of dull numbness filled her veins, slowly ebbing away to be replaced by a throbbing pain.

She groaned, and whoever was talking stopped.

"Sunset? Honey, are you alright? How are you feeling?" a soft, female voice said.

A voice Sunset recognized.

"M-Mom?" she croaked out. Her mouth was dry, and her lips were chapped. "C-can I have some water?"

"Of course, honey." A few seconds passed before a cup was pressed to her lips. Cool water flowed slowly into her parched mouth; she swallowed gratefully. Once the cup was pulled away, she lifted her head, opening her eyes fully, and looked around.

It was a hospital room, that much she knew.

But the four beings looking at her weren't ponies.

"What the...?" She sat up and looked around, scanning the unfamiliar faces—two of which had familiar features she hadn't seen in a very long time.

There was a woman with dusk-purple skin and long, braided dusty rose hair. Her eyes were deep purple pools full of sadness and worry, as well as a muted hope. Tear tracks marred her face. She wore a black pullover sweater and faded white capri pants, as well as beige flats. Beside her stood a man with dark orange skin, short, wavy bright golden hair, and round wire-rimmed glasses that magnified deep blue eyes. He was tall, with a lean build and a square jaw, and wore a sweater-vest and jeans with penny loafers.

"Mr. Sunrise," one of the other men in the room said in a gruff tone, "you understand that I'll need to ask your daughter some questions." This man had grey skin, a stiff brush of golden hair, and wore a blue uniform with a golden badge over the left breast pocket.

'Mr. Sunrise' sighed heavily. "Is that really necessary, Officer?" he asked. "Haven't we been through enough?"

"Sir, your daughter ran away from home two years ago," the officer said curtly. "I'm sorry, but I do have to obtain as much information for my report as possible."

"I'd rather you not interrogate this child until she's had time to recover," the other man said. He was thin, with pale blue skin and short, curly white hair, and wore a white coat over blue medical scrubs. "She's lucky she didn't sustain more serious injuries, but she's going to need to stay at least two days while we run some tests. Also, _because_ she ran away from home and has been missing for two years, we need to evaluate her for trauma."

The officer frowned, but nodded, flipping the notebook he held closed. "She's not to be discharged without notifying the police," he said.

"I know the procedure, Sergeant."

The sergeant shifted awkwardly, then nodded stiffly to the other two occupants of the room. "Sir, Ma'am." He turned and left the room.

"How is she, Doctor? Really?" the woman asked again.

"She cracked two ribs and there was some internal bleeding, but you lucked out. Our best surgical resident was on call when she was brought in. There was some pretty severe bruising of her left breast. That's going to be tender for a while. Other than that, she mostly sustained minor scrapes and contusions." The doctor shook his head. "Damn lucky if you ask me. We'll need to run some tests and keep her on IV pain medication and antibiotics for about twenty-four hours, then have the staff psychiatrist visit her. After that, as far as I'm concerned, you can take her home, but that really depends on what the psychiatrist and the police say." He looked at her, frowning. "You're in a mess of trouble, young lady."

"Oh, don't say things like that," the woman said. "We're just happy to have her back, and...and we're going to _make sure she stays_. Right, Sunset?" That sharp tone and the stern, scolding look on the woman's face, plus her familiar voice, clinched it.

Against all odds, this was her mother, Sunset Satin.

Which meant the man with the glasses and the golden hair was...

"Dad?" Sunset croaked.

"I'm here, Sunset," Desert Sunrise said, rushing over to her side and taking her hand in his. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, oh god you must've been coming back home to us, please tell me you were coming back home, please..."

Despite the numbing effects of whatever painkillers they had pumped into her, the general confusion over the situation, and the mild delirium induced by the very strange similarities rapidly unfolding between this world and her own, Sunset's sharp mind and keen sense of an opportunity told her that this was a situation she could turn to her own advantage.

"Dad," she said in a choked tone, squeezing his hand. "I...Mom...I missed..." She choked out a sob, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. The tears leaking out were not entirely feigned—even with the drugs, she was still in a _lot_ of pain, and she hadn't seen her parents in five years.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Whatever I said, whatever I did, I'm sorry. I was s-so wrong a-and...so s-stupid..."

"It's okay, honey," Satin said soothingly. "It's okay. Rest now. We can talk later."

Sunset nodded sleepily as the doctor injected something into her IV. The last thing she saw before foggy dreams took her were the hopeful faces of her parents...

...or rather, the parents of a stranger with her face.

 ** _well it that time angina to leave and to come back for a nether story hope you all are liking this and i hope you proves find it to your liking._**


	3. clestia side chapter 1

**_Hello all you who have come here to read this fic here's chapter 3 and just so all you know i have all the chapters for this saved so i can update when i want to but the person who created this first only has 8 chapters up and i have them all save and ready to upload and i be waiting for this person to update they story but i just mate put some fillers chapters in the mix for you guys and gals to have something to read._**

Principal Celestia sized up the teenage girl who looked just like her. For a long time, she said nothing. Then, a wry smirk graced her lips. "Haha. Very funny, Luna. You had me going with this one. Very good job with the hair dye, though. How hard was it to find a girl whose skin was the same shade as mine and who had the same eye color, though? Or is that makeup and contacts?"

Luna shook her head as she reached for the large cardboard bucket on the table. "You think this is one of my practical jokes, Tia?"

"Well, it's a little different from your usual style, I admit."

Luna groaned as she extracted three pieces of chicken from the bucket and placed them on a paper plate, then dug through one of the bags that accompanied it. "Seriously, is anybody here but me going to eat? Help yourself," she said aside to Princess Celestia.

Princess Celestia shook herself and tentatively reached for the bucket, pulling out a chicken drumstick and eyeing it dubiously. She gave it an experimental sniff. "What is this?" she asked curiously. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear it smells like meat."

"It _is_ meat," Luna said as she dumped a huge spoonful of mashed potatoes and gravy on her plate, then plopped two large, golden biscuits next to it. "What, you've never had fried chicken?"

"No, I...I haven't," Princess Celestia said.

Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow. "You seriously don't know what fried chicken is?" she asked as she began serving herself.

"She also doesn't know what seat belts or cell phones are," Luna said, rolling her eyes. "Hey, Tia, pour us all some sodas. You, uh, do at least know what soda is, right?"

"Yes, of course," Princess Celestia said as her counterpart stood and walked to the refrigerator. "We do have it in Equestria. I'm afraid I don't have it very often. It's terribly frowned upon in Ca—err, in the city where I live." Luna added some mashed potatoes and cole slaw to Princess Celestia's plate, along with a second piece of chicken and two biscuits.

Principal Celestia placed three glasses full of ice on the table and began filling them from a two-liter bottle of cola. "Well, it's not exactly good for you," she said. "I try not to drink too much of it myself. Unlike _some_ people I could name."

"Hey, I burn off the calories," Luna protested as she took a giant bite out of a chicken thigh.

Once Principal Celestia finished pouring the drinks, she sat and studied the two seated across from her, particularly the younger version of herself. "Okay, so what _is_ going on here?" she asked.

Princess Celestia sighed as she struggled to emulate the way Luna handled her own fork with less than complete success. She managed two bites of mashed potatoes before she started picking at her biscuit with her fingers. "I had a falling out with someone very important to me. Her name is Sunset Shimmer. I followed her here, but our way home...well, it's cut off. It will be thirty moons before I can return to my own land, and Sunset Shimmer is out there somewhere, in this city, doing who knows what..."

"Thirty moons?" Luna asked, snorting. "Are you Eweropean or from the Buffalo tribes? Make up your mind, kid."

"Luna, hush," Principal Celestia chided. She frowned at Princess Celestia. "And your name is—?"

"Celestia," Princess Celestia said. "The same as you." She swallowed a bite of biscuit, then added, "This...might sound completely crazy, but—"

"You're me, right?" Principal Celestia asked. "Is that what you were about to say?"

"Sort of."

"Thirty moons," Principal Celestia said thoughtfully. "That's...a little over two years, right?" She frowned. "You know, strange things happen every two years or so at CHS. There's been a school legend since long before I was principal that the school statue is haunted or cursed."

"That old story?" Luna snorted. "Please. Kids have been blaming that statue for everything from missing homework to losing the Friendship Games for years."

Princess Celestia took a deep breath. "I know how crazy it sounds that...that you and I are the same being."

"It'd be easier to accept 'daughter from the distant future' or 'distant cousin who freakishly looks exactly like me'," Principal Celestia said. "Or 'obsessed stalker fangirl', though that wouldn't make sense under the circumstances."

Luna snickered. "You forgot 'yourself from the past because time travel'," she added.

Princess Celestia stood up and slammed her palms on the table. "I WILL NOT BE MOCKED!" she yelled. "My kingdom, my subjects, are without their Princess for the first time in three thousand years! I cannot return home and have no way of assuring them that I am alive! My entire kingdom could well descend into chaos! All because I foolishly chased one petulant student...through..." She slumped back into her chair, burying her face in her hands, heedless of the grease from her dinner. "Sunset," she moaned, a sob shaking her slight frame.

Principal Celestia and Luna fell silent, staring at her, then at one another, with wide, startled eyes. Principal Celestia wiped her mouth with her napkin and cleared her throat. "Why don't you start at the beginning?" she asked gently.

Over the course of the next two hours, Princess Celestia had spoken at length to the human counterparts of herself and her sister. She had, in her despair and vulnerability, told them everything. Who she was, where she came from. That she was not human, though she did not tell them exactly _what_ she was. She told them of her kingdom, her own sister and her tragic downfall. She named names—particularly Blueblood and Cadance—and learned of some differences between the two worlds, such as Cadance not being Principal Celestia's adopted niece, but rather Luna's old friend from college and the Dean of Students of a private school in the city. She told them of the mirror portal, and of Sunset Shimmer. She told them of Sunset's ambitions, the rift between them, and ultimately, of the argument that led to Sunset's departure through the mirror.

As she spoke, she ate, though she was very picky about the chicken, eating very little of it even though she seemed to enjoy it. By the time she finally wound down, her voice was hoarse and raw, and her eyes drooped with exhaustion. Luna took her to the guest room and helped her change into a spare nightgown, then gently laid her down in the guest bed.

Now, Luna and Principal Celestia sat on the living room sofa, nursing cups of coffee. "What do you think, Tia?" Luna asked.

"I don't know _what_ to think," Celestia said, shaking her head. "I don't think she's making it all up. Or rather, she seems to believe every word of what she said." She frowned. "The name 'Sunset Shimmer' is ringing some bells in my head. It seems familiar somehow, but I can't place it."

"Well, the bad news is she wasn't carrying any identification at all," Luna said with a grimace. "I stripped her bare-ass naked and other than the dress, shoes, jewelry, and panties she was wearing, she doesn't have anything. No identification, no phone, not even a bra."

"I kind of noticed the lack of a bra," Celestia said with a dry chuckle.

"And another thing," Luna said. "The hair's natural." She glanced significantly at her sister. "If she's not you, she's your clone, because nobody else on this planet has your freaky pastel rainbow hair."

Celestia sighed. "Do you really think she's me from a parallel magical world?"

Luna snorted. "I don't believe in things like that," she said. "Now, cloning, time travel, _that_ I believe in."

Celestia slapped her upside the head. "Be serious," she said. She pulled out her phone and idly searched the web for 'Sunset Shimmer'. She frowned at the results. "I knew that name sounded familiar. Sunset Shimmer...a girl by that name was reported as a runaway two years ago. She was never found." She showed Luna the article, which had a photo of the missing teen. "Is that her?"

"I didn't get a good look at her," Luna said, frowning. "All I really saw was a leather jacket, maybe a streak of red hair..." She tilted her head. "Could be her. We'll ask Celes— _the girl_ when she wakes up."

Celestia groaned. "I think for simplicity's sake, we should just call her Tia," she said. "At least until we have a better handle on who she really is."

Luna shrugged. "Fair enough. So, umm...what are we going to do with her?"

Celestia sighed. "I don't know," she said. "We _should_ take her to the police, but..." She grimaced. "Without identification, without any clue where she's really from, the police are going to take one look at her and one look at me—"

"They're going to think she's your daughter and you're wasting their time," Luna finished with a frown. "Yeah, I was kind of thinking that myself." She set her coffee cup down on the table. "I think we're stuck with this kid," she said. "At least, until we know what the hell's going on here."

Celestia ran a hand through her hair. "All things considered, we don't really have much of a choice," she said. "Though to be honest...I get the feeling taking responsibility for her is the right thing to do. That...that we _should_ help her ourselves. Not...not pawn her off on child services or some psychiatrist."

Luna smirked. "She could be the daughter you always wanted," she teased.

"Niece," Celestia corrected. "Or cousin. If we're...if we're really doing this, we're pretending she's our _cousin_."

"Suit yourself," Luna said with a laugh. She stood up and stretched. "I guess I'd better take her shopping in the morning. She's going to need some more clothes. And a phone. And a bra."

"I'll enroll her at CHS while I'm working on the student rolls for the coming year," Celestia said. "The good thing about being principal is I can fake her enrollment information and nobody will ask questions."

"That's a felony, sister," Luna cautioned.

"No, it's a clerical error," Celestia corrected with a sly smile. Luna shook her head and padded off to her bedroom. Celestia finished her stone-cold coffee with a grimace and stood, stretching. She took both cups to the kitchen, washed them, then headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. On her way to her own bedroom, she stopped by the guest room to check on the sleeping teenager. She was tossing fitfully, murmuring the names 'Luna' and 'Sunset' over and over.

Celestia's eyes softened, and she leaned down to brush the girl's hair out of her face. "If you really are me," she whispered, "I know how badly you're torturing yourself over your mistakes. I hope...I hope we can help you."

With that, she headed for her own room, where she lay awake for hours, deep in thought, before sleep finally claimed her.

 ** _I will see you all next chapter and a reminder I do not own this i am just moving it to a nether site and oh after chapter 8 I am planning to start working on it my own way but that is if the author of the story does not up date it before i get there and I not be uploading this a fast you would like but i do have other fics to do and I am just plan and I have a lot of school work and a lot of laziness that a nare from naruto would be joules just a wronging._**


	4. chapter 4 Candce: Interlude 1

_**Hello all you who have come here to read this fic here's chapter 2 and just so all you know i have all the chapters for this saved so i can update when i want to but the person who created this first only has 8 chapters up and i have them all save and ready to upload and i be waiting for this person to update they story but i just mate put some fillers chapters in the mix for you guys and gals to have something to read.**_

The sky had been frozen in a starless, moonless dusk for hours.

Princess Mi Amore Cadenza gazed out at the violet horizon with worried eyes, remembering a time, when she was much younger and still a pegasus, when she had asked her adopted aunt to let twilight last longer because the sky was so pretty. Celestia had chuckled and patiently explained that there was an order to things, and twilight lasted for only a mere handful of moments because it was a precious, magical, and fleeting thing.

"Your Highness?" a guard asked from behind her. "Some nobles are here to—"

"Send them home," Cadance said, tearing her gaze away from the endless dusk. "I don't want to hear their complaining, and I don't want to start a panic. Summon the faculty of Celestia's School, as well as any scholars and sages who...who might be able to figure out a way out of this mess."

The guard nodded and cantered off. Cadance sighed, rustling her wings. "I can deal with this," she said to herself. "I'm a princess. I'm an alicorn. I wouldn't be an alicorn princess if I wasn't ready to lead. Celestia wouldn't have trusted me with—oh, who am I kidding," she moaned. "I'm just barely a mare! I still foalsit for spare bits, for pony's sake! I haven't even kissed my boyfriend yet! How in the world can I—"

There was a knock at the door. Cadance took a deep breath. "Enter," she called crisply.

The door opened, and a young stallion's head poked through. His white coat and two-tone blue mane looked a bit unkempt, and his eyes were full of concern. "Cadance?"

"Shiny!" Cadance trotted over and nuzzled him happily. "Oh, am I ever happy to see you." She took a step back to allow Shining Armor to enter, then closed the door behind him.

"Cadance, what's going on?" Shining Armor asked. "Mom and Dad are trying to keep things calm at home, but Twiley's completely freaking out about the sky. You know how neurotic she can get. I swear she's going to give herself ulcers before she even has her Cutie Mark."

Cadance giggled. "She _is_ a bit high-strung," she said. She sighed. "Shiny, don't tell anypony else this, but..." She took a deep breath. "Princess Celestia has disappeared."

Shining Armor's eyes widened. "Disappeared? How? Was there an attack? A kidnapper? Who—"

Cadance held up a hoof to silence him. "I don't know all the details yet, the reports from the guards are very confused. What little I've been able to piece together is that there's an artifact in the castle, a mirror that has some sort of magic portal in it. Celestia had a falling out with her student—you've met her, right? Sunset Shimmer?"

Shining Armor grimaced. "Yeah, I know her. She's an arrogant, conceited little—"

"Celestia expelled her from the castle," Cadance interrupted. "She was being escorted out when she overpowered the guards and fled through the mirror portal. Celestia followed her. The guards tried to give chase, but...the portal just stopped working." Cadance bowed her head. "That's...that's all I know."

Shining Armor's irises contracted to pinpricks. "So...Princess Celestia is just...just _gone?!_ "

"I'm afraid so."

Shining Armor began to pace. "But that means..." He swallowed. "That means the sun will never rise again. That means...it means Equestria is doomed."

"No, it doesn't," Cadance said firmly. "I'm gathering every scholar, sage, and teacher in Canterlot. Shiny, listen to me. I'm an alicorn. I might not be anywhere near as powerful as Celestia, but..." She swallowed heavily. "If...if she can move the sun and the moon, then so can I. I just...I just have to learn how she does it."

"Are you sure?" Shining Armor asked, tilting his head.

"No," Cadance admitted. "But somepony has to, and right now, I'm all we've got."

Shining Armor sighed, then moved to embrace Cadance. "I'm not leaving your side," he declared. "Not until Princess Celestia is found and returned."

Cadance smiled, tears leaking from her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered.

 ** _well it that time angina to leave and to come back for a nether story hope you all are liking this and i hope you proves find it to your liking. I get all my work for school done and i just want to give you all a nice gift for the way you all were waiting so i say thank you to all and don't forget I do not own the story or plot line to this story so it mate take a bit for me o get the rest on here with all the school stuff that has been going on I have like any time to give up so into next time i hope this will let you all rest easy to night so bye._**


	5. Chapter 5 side sanset 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story in anyway or shape at. user/MythrilMoth this is the person who owns this story so if you do not like how slow I am updating this then go to them because they are five chapters ahead of me I am just importing this into from and please give them some love and some of there stories and I do not make any from of money from doing this if i did them I would not be using a evil school laptop with a proxy to get this to you guys. STORY STARTS MEOW!**

The hospital room was quiet.

At some point during the night, the nurses had disconnected Sunset Shimmer from whatever machines she had been hooked up to. She knew very little of the trappings of hospital rooms, having only been in the hospital once herself as a small filly. She could only assume that was a good sign.

It was dark. Dim starlight filtered through a window with closed blinds; the light wasn't enough for her to see anything by. She thought about sitting up and trying to move around, but a dull ache permeated her being, and even shifting around caused her head to throb.

Worse, now that the adrenaline rush from her escape had worn off, Sunset realized how alien her own body was. With a heavy sigh, she lay her head against the soft pillow underneath it, staring up at the dark ceiling.

She had to admit her countless hours of illicit research had not prepared her for the reality of her current situation. She had unearthed tomes of Starswirl the Bearded's research into parallel worlds, alternate realities where the familiar and the alien collided in a surreal landscape. Nowhere had any of her research mentioned physically transforming into...whatever she was now.

"Whatever," she said into the darkness. "I showed up that old nag Celestia, that's all that matters."

Celestia...

She'd followed Sunset through the portal.

It had closed behind her.

Sunset worried at her lip. A pang of remorse and regret washed over her. She knew all too well what Princess Celestia's presence in this world meant for Equestria.

In all likelihood, it meant in thirty moons, there wouldn't _be_ an Equestria to return to.

Her jaw tightened. "I guess...I'll just have to learn everything I can about this world," she said. "If _she's_ stuck here with me, I'll have to prove I'm her superior _here_ , or...or this was all for nothing."

She slipped into a fitful slumber fraught with restless nightmares.

Bright sunlight spilled through the blinds, glowing against the crisp white linens. Sunset winced as she opened her eyes, which felt puffy and swollen. Gingerly, she sat up, a slight wave of queasiness washing through her at the strangeness of the motion. "Ugh..."

Now that there was light to see by, she looked down at herself. Her arms no longer ended in hooves, but rather minotaur-like hands, hairless with slender fingers. She wiggled them experimentally, raising an eyebrow. The motion caused a slight jolt of pain in her left hand; she quickly traced that to a thick needle which pierced the skin of that hand, held in place by tape and connected to a flexible tube. The tube, in turn, was connected to a half-empty bag of fluid that hung from a metal pole by the bed.

The sheet fell away from her chest, and she stared down at two prominent lumps that shifted around beneath the thin hospital gown she wore. She frowned in confusion. "The hay?"

She lifted the sheet and took a look at her legs. They were long, broad, and ended not in hooves, but in soft feet with short, blunt digits. _*Toes,*_ she told herself. _*I've seen animals with toes, I know what toes are.*_ She wiggled them. _*This is so weird.*_ She let the sheet fall back into place and let out a sigh. "Well, Sunset, you're a...whatever this thing is now." She reached up and felt her forehead. "No horn. I guess that means no magic."

The door opened, and a shortish woman with curly hair wearing magenta scrubs, who Sunset assumed to be a nurse, walked in. "Good morning!" she said. "How are we feeling today?"

"Sore," Sunset said. "Tired. Confused."

"Mm, well, that's to be expected," the nurse said as she busied herself with taking Sunset's blood pressure and checking her other vitals using devices she didn't recognize, then writing it all down on a thin, flat clipboard that didn't seem to have any paper on it—in fact, it seemed to be lit up from within somehow. As the nurse worked, Sunset became aware of an uncomfortable pressure in her bladder. She grimaced, squirming a bit. The nurse looked up. "Something wrong, sweetie?"

"I, umm...need to pee," Sunset said with a grimace.

The nurse nodded. "You'll need me to help you," she said. "You need to get out of bed slowly so you don't aggravate those ribs, alright?"

Sunset nodded. She pulled back the sheet and shifted around, slowly swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She hissed in pain as the side where the carriage struck her burned intensely. She sucked in a breath through gritted teeth, screwing her eyes shut.

"Yeah, it's gonna hurt," the nurse said sympathetically. "When we're done I'll bring you an ice pack, okay? By the way, they'll be bringing breakfast in about fifteen or twenty minutes."

Sunset slowly stood up, wobbling; the nurse steadied her. Taking one slow step at a time, with the nurse guiding her all the way while tugging the IV stand, Sunset made her way to the small bathroom attached to her hospital room.

Once inside, she faced what had to be the toilet with a blank look. _*Okay, now how do I do this...*_

Desert Sunrise found his wife in Sunset's room, changing the bedsheets. He frowned. "Honey? You know she's not...not coming home for a few days yet."

Sunset Satin turned and faced him. Her eyes were bloodshot and her movements were jerky. "I know," she said, wringing her hands. "It's just...I couldn't sleep, so I've...I've been in here all night cleaning up her room, getting it ready for her." She frowned. "I'm going to need to get her measurements so we can buy her some new clothes and have them ready for her when she gets home. She's grown so much!" She looked down at herself, then blushed. "I don't know where she got those... _breasts_ from, they sure didn't come from my side of the family."

Sunrise coughed, a blush rising to his chest. "Dear? You're making me a bit uncomfortable," he said.

Satin rolled her eyes. "Oh, behave," she chided. She yawned. "What time is it?"

"Almost seven," Sunrise said. "I think we'll go out for breakfast this morning, alright?"

Satin nodded. "A-alright. But we'll go to the hospital straight after, right?"

"Of course we will."

Satin blinked back fresh tears. "Our baby came home, Des."

Sunrise smiled. "I know, dear. I know."

By the time an orderly brought Sunset's breakfast, her face was still burning with humiliation from her bathroom incident. The nurse had had to help her clean herself up, and seemed rather disconcerted by how...poorly the whole thing had gone.

 _*I get the feeling my injuries aren't going to cover for the fact that I don't even know how to pee right,*_ Sunset thought as the orderly set the tray on a high, wheeled table that slid over the bed. He adjusted its height, then lifted the cover off for her and set it on the bed by her leg before leaving the room.

A bowl of oatmeal, two small pancakes, a lump of scrambled eggs, and two grey-brown puck-like discs of something Sunset couldn't identify were arranged on her plate. The tray also held a small carton of milk, a little plastic tub of orange juice, a small tub of pancake syrup, a pat of butter sandwiched between two slivers of waxed paper, and packets of sugar, salt, and pepper. Finally, there was a wrapped drinking straw, a plastic knife, fork, and spoon, and a paper napkin.

Sunset studied the various condiments and utensils with trepidation. She had not used her hooves to handle food or utensils since she was a small filly, relying solely on her magic for everything at the dinner table. She examined her hands, flexing the fingers, observing how each joint moved. So far, she'd had little difficulty moving larger objects—sheets, her gown, the paper towels in the bathroom—with her new hands, but this...

Haltingly, Sunset picked up the little pat of butter with her right thumb and forefinger. Screwing up her face in concentration, she made an effort to peel the wax paper off, succeeding on her third try. Elated, she picked her plastic knife up in a clumsy, full-fisted grip and scraped the butter off the other piece of wax paper, then smeared it on the top pancake. Feeling emboldened, she tried to peel the foil top off the little tub of syrup. After almost a full minute of struggling, she gave up and used her teeth to peel it off, then poured it over the pancakes.

Tearing the paper packets of condiments in half with her fingers was easier than peeling the top off the syrup, but very messy; she got about half the sugar into her oatmeal, and the salt and pepper were clumped and uneven on her eggs. Still, it got the job done. She grabbed her fork in a fist and stabbed the pancakes, trying to cut through them with the edge.

"Sorry it took so long," the nurse said as she walked through the door. "Some idiot didn't refill the ice chest, I had to go to the other station and—" She trailed off. "Umm, you know, it'd be easier to eat if you held your fork the right way."

Sunset blinked, staring at her. "Umm..." She looked down at her fork. "I..." She faked a sheepish laugh. "You're right. I just...guess I'm not all here today."

"Yeah, I noticed," the nurse said dryly. "I've never seen a girl your age miss the toilet before." She shook her head and walked over, taking the fork from Sunset's hand and turning it a different way, reshaping Sunset's hold on the fork so that the handle rested between the first two fingers, with her thumb laid atop the handle. Sunset studied the fork and its new placement, then experimented by cutting into the pancakes. To her surprise, it was much easier now. As she took her first syrupy bite, the nurse lifted her gown and applied a freezing cold icepack to her ribs. She let out a gasp, but quickly relaxed as the cold numbed and soothed the sharp pain. The nurse then applied some ointment to Sunset's side. "Looking good, no sign of infection," she said. "Is there anything you like to watch on TV?"

 _*What's TV...?*_ "Not really?" Sunset offered.

The nurse picked up a bulky, button-covered object which hung from a thick cord at the edge of the bed. "Well, I'm sure you know how to work the remote," she said. "Just press the call button if you need anything, okay?"

"Okay," Sunset said. The nurse patted her on the shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile, then left. Shaking her head, Sunset turned her attention back to her breakfast.

The pancakes were a little flat and flavorless, but not terrible. The eggs tasted off, and the oatmeal was a lumpy, bland, tasteless mess. The little brown puck things, on the other hand, had a nice, mildly spicy flavor to them and were by far the most interesting thing on her plate. She washed down the bland oatmeal and disappointing eggs with the cold, delicious milk; when she finished her breakfast, she peeled open the orange juice and gulped it down greedily.

Once Sunset finished her breakfast, she pushed the tray table away and, for lack of anything better to do, turned her attention to the little button machine the nurse had placed within arm's reach. She examined it; there were buttons for raising and lowering the head and foot ends of the bed, a nurse call button, ten numbered buttons from zero to nine, and buttons marked 'TV on/off', 'Channel +/-', and 'Volume +/-'.

She pressed the button marked 'TV on/off', and something mounted on the wall across from her bed beeped twice before showing a picture of a man sitting at a desk, talking. She blinked. "Is this a movie?" She craned her neck around, looking for a projector. "Where's it coming from?"

If it was a movie, it was a boring one. The man at the desk was talking about unemployment rates, stock prices, and fears of a coming economic recession. At some point, a woman's face appeared in a little floating box next to him, and she said the man's recession talk was unfounded and that the economy was stable and getting better. Sunset shook her head, tuning it all out, and looked at the button device again. She tried pressing the number two. In the corner of the screen, a green number 2 appeared, and the picture changed. Now it showed a different man and woman at a different desk.

"Now we turn to Fluffy Clouds for your first look at today's weather," the man said. The picture changed, showing a blue-skinned man in a light grey suit with an orange bowtie and a huge, curly pile of white hair atop his head. He stood in front of a map that looked vaguely like the eastern half of Equestria; Sunset sat up, paying closer attention.

"Well, we're looking forward to a beautiful summer day in Canterlot," Fluffy Clouds said. "That high pressure system isn't going anywhere anytime soon, so once again we're going to see a hot, dry, sunny day, with temperatures warming into the mid-seventies by noon, and an afternoon high of about eighty-three for most of Canterlot. If you've got outdoor plans, this is a good day for it. For tonight, we should have lows in the upper fifties with light breezes from the west-northwest. For the next five days, our forecast looks pretty much the same..."

 _*Canterlot. So this_ _ **is**_ _a parallel Equestria. That's interesting.*_

The picture cut back to the two people at the desk, who started talking about "identity theft". Sunset listened with curiosity as they rattled off a list of advice, accompanied by words printed in place of the picture of the two people. Sunset couldn't understand a single thing they were saying. _*It appears I have a lot to learn about this world.*_

There was a knock on the door, which opened after a moment. A doctor walked in; it wasn't the same doctor from the night before. He was younger, shorter, and wasn't wearing a white coat. He was studying a flat, glowing clipboard similar to the one the nurse had carried. "Well, good morning," he said distractedly. He looked up at the TV, then back at Sunset. "Oh, come on. A pretty teenage girl like you can't find anything less boring to watch than the news?"

Sunset shrugged.

"Oh well. So, how's your pain this morning? On a scale from one to ten, ten being the worst pain ever."

Sunset thought about it. "About an eight when I move," she said. "About a four when I don't."

The doctor nodded. "It's going to be like that for a while," he said. "Ice packs on your ribs for a couple of weeks, at least two times a day. We're going to keep you on an IV while you're here, but when you go home, we'll have to prescribe some pain pills." He scrawled something on that strange clipboard. "Your parents will have to manage your pain medicine. Is that okay with you?"

 _*No.*_ "Of course."

"That's just the law," the doctor said. "Since there've been problems with kids abusing prescription medication lately. At least it's summer, so you don't have to go to school with your ribs like that." He made another mark on his clipboard. "Now, the bruising to your breast...I wouldn't worry about that too much. It should heal quickly. If it doesn't fade within, oh, four or five days, make sure to let somebody know. It'll probably be tender for a while."

"Okay."

"We're keeping you here for a couple of days for observation," the doctor said. After a moment, he asked, "So why'd you run away from home?"

Sunset thought about that for a minute. "I don't remember," she said.

"Hmm." The doctor frowned. "You know, I'm not much older than you. I've only been here two years. I know what it's like. I had fights with my parents when I was your age." He chuckled. "One time, they caught me smoking a joint. I just wanted to try it, you know, everyone was. They got so mad." He shook his head.

"I don't even remember the last time I saw them," Sunset said listlessly. And it was true—ever since she became Princess Celestia's student, she'd become so distant from her family she honestly didn't remember the last time she'd made time for them. She vaguely recalled her mother showing up at the castle on her last birthday. Or was it the one before?

Traitorous tears glistened in her eyes. The doctor looked at her and frowned. "Touchy subject, okay. I'll just...let you work that out with your folks and the psychiatrist." He made another note on his clipboard, then glanced up at the TV. "A little advice, though? Find something more cheerful to watch than the news." He picked up the little button machine and punched two numbers; the picture changed to what looked like a fairly shabby living room, with two women talking back and forth at each other. Obnoxious laughter rang out from the screen practically every time one of them said anything. The doctor gave her an encouraging smile, then turned and left.

For the next hour, Sunset played with the little button box. She raised her bed some, then figured out that the 'Channel +/-' button made the picture change without the numbers. Sometimes it showed more people sitting at a desk talking about news, while other times it showed more people in living rooms or other places talking, with laughter accompanying them. Once, there was an older man in a white suit marching around in a courtroom, berating a witness. Another time, there were what looked like this world's version of zebras, dancing and rhyming to strange, mostly rhythmic music. Eventually, it cycled back around to that first set of people talking about news and current events in Canterlot. She turned the volume down and flicked the button box off the side of the bed, reclining against her pillow and closing her eyes.

"Sunset?"

She opened her eyes. Desert Sunrise and Sunset Satin were standing by the bed. She offered them a weak smile. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" Satin asked, pulling a chair up to the bed and sitting down right beside her. She ran a hand through Sunset's hair fondly.

"Sore," Sunset said.

"Can we get you anything?" Satin asked. "Are you thirsty? Go get her something to drink, Des."

"Yeah, something to drink sounds good," Sunset said. "Anything."

Desert Sunrise nodded and left the room.

Satin looked up at the screen on the wall. "So, what're you watching?" she asked.

"I have no idea," Sunset said. "I just left it on and kinda drifted off."

An awkward silence fell.

"Sweetie...where have you been?" Satin asked softly.

Sunset took a deep breath. "I don't know," she said, a quaver in her voice.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Satin asked, tilting her head.

"I mean I don't know where I've been," Sunset said, looking at her with as much sincerity as she could muster.

Desert Sunrise walked back in, holding a bottle of cola. He walked over and handed it to Sunset, then sat down.

"Thanks," Sunset said. She studied the cap on the bottle with a frown. "Actually, Mom, can you pour this in a cup for me? Maybe with some ice? I think they gave me some ice a little bit ago."

Satin smiled. "Of course," she said. She located Sunset's ice pitcher and the plastic tumbler they'd given her, filling the cup with ice before pouring half the soda into it and setting the bottle on the overbed table. Sunset watched her hands the entire time, observing the way she twisted the cap.

"Thanks," Sunset said, reaching for the cup and bringing it to her lips. She tipped it back and gulped down some of the sweet, bubbly cola, giving an appreciative murmur as she smacked her lips. She looked at her "parents". "So, umm...how are things?"

They looked at each other awkwardly. "Good," Sunrise said. "They're...they're good. Work's going fine, we're both...fine." He looked at her, searching her face. "Things were...kind of rough for a while after you, you know. We...had some rough times."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Sunset said. _*I wonder what really happened...*_

She'd spent much of the night before thinking. She wasn't entirely convinced the people she saw were really her parents, or if she was having some sort of trauma-induced delirium. It did stand to reason, however, based on some of Starswirl's notes she'd found and read, that if parallel worlds existed, and there were alternate versions of ponies from Equestria there...

These _were_ her parents, and there was another Sunset Shimmer in this world. And she had run away from home.

Sunset didn't need to know anything about this world to know the odds of their Sunset ever coming home were slim to none...if she was even still alive.

 _*Which works out just fine for me, if I can bluff my way through these first few days...*_

"Sunset was just telling me she doesn't know where she's been all this time," Satin said in a light tone that nevertheless carried an edge of doubt and disappointment.

Sunrise frowned, gazing intently at Sunset. "How can you not know where you've been?" he asked.

Sunset shrugged. "I don't," she said with a hitch in her voice. "I don't even remember...leaving. Or why." She looked at them with what she hoped was an expression of utter helplessness. "I don't...really remember anything."

They shared a significant glance. Sunrise frowned. "You know, young lady...you don't have any head injury from last night. If you're...if you're trying to fake amnesia to get out of explaining yourself..."

 _*Wow, their Sunset must've been a real twat!*_ Sunset shook her head. "I'm not...I mean..." She took another sip of cola. "I really don't remember." She shrugged. "All I remember is...is running. I don't know where from, or where to, or why. I just...I just remember running." She looked at Sunrise. "Then I got hit, and then you were there. That's really all I can remember." She frowned down at her lap. "I don't remember home. I don't...I don't remember anything."

Satin gasped. "Oh my god," she breathed.

Sunrise's jaw clenched. "Alright," he said. "Let's start with the night you disappeared." He leaned forward, folding his hands in his lap. "Three times, Sunset. Three times we caught you sneaking out at night to see that thug we told you we didn't want you getting mixed up with. You were thirteen, he was sixteen, and he came around stinking of alcohol. He was rude, he was disrespectful, and we found out two months after you left that he tried to kill his own mother. He's in prison now. Adult prison."

Sunset grimaced. "Wow, he sounds like a charmer," she said.

"You certainly thought so," Sunrise continued. "Because we told you we didn't want to catch you with him, but you kept disobeying us and sneaking out of the house to meet him. We grounded you and you snuck out anyway. Do you remember any of this?"

Sunset shook her head. "I really don't," she said. "I don't even know who you're talking about, and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing."

"And how about getting suspended from school for bad behavior and keying your history teacher's car, do you remember that?"

Sunset shrugged helplessly. "Sorry." _*That sounds like some kind of vandalism. I know I can be pretty defiant—that's how I ended up in this mess in the first place—but this other me sounds like a major jerk.*_

Sunrise took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Look," he said. "We're just happy to have you home and that you're safe and alive. We want to put everything behind us. Wherever you went, whatever you did, it doesn't matter anymore, so long as we can start over. But we need to know we can trust you, young lady. We need to know it won't be the same all over again. We can't...we can't _go through that_ again."

Sunset allowed tears to well up in her eyes. "Dad," she choked out, "I...whatever I did, I'm sorry. I wish I could remember, but...I can't. I don't...I don't remember anything." She sniffled.

"Nothing at all? You really have no idea where you've been for the last two years?"

"I don't even know where I am _right now_ ," Sunset said. "I mean, I'm assuming this is Canterlot because I heard that guy talking about the weather earlier," she continued, gesturing at the screen on the wall, "and because you're here, so...I mean, if you're here, this must be Canterlot, right? Canterlot is home, right?"

Sunrise and Satin blinked and exchanged a nervous glance. "Sunset?" Satin said hesitantly. "We...we moved here six months ago." She swallowed heavily. "I mean, we hoped maybe...and I made up a bedroom for you and put everything exactly where you had it except for those nasty magazines, just in case, but..." She shook her head. "When...when we had to leave Fillydelphia, we honestly...gave up."

Sunset looked down at her lap. "Oh," she said. _*STUPID! Overplayed it.*_

The door opened, and the white-haired doctor from the night before walked in, examining one of those glowing clipboards. He looked up and nodded at Sunset's parents briefly, then walked over to her with a gentle smile. "Good morning," he said. "We didn't exactly meet last night, I'm Dr. Swab, I was the attending on call when you were admitted last night, so I'll be your doctor. How are you feeling?"

"Sore, tired, confused," Sunset said.

"Well, you _were_ just reunited with your parents after being hit by car," Dr. Swab said with a chuckle. "That's bound to rattle anyone." He looked at Sunrise and Satin. "I know you want to spend as much time with her as possible, but we have some tests to run and she needs to have a session with the psychiatrist. We have a lot to do if we want to get her out of here, and the sooner we get to it, the better."

"Of course," Sunrise said, putting his glasses back on and adjusting them. "She's going to be fine though, right?"

"Everything looks good from what I see," Dr. Swab said. "We just need to run some more tests."

Satin frowned. "Doctor, there's something you should know. Sunset...claims to be having memory problems."

Dr. Swab frowned, then looked at Sunset. "Memory problems, you say? You know, faking amnesia is one thing, but—"

"I don't remember anything about my life," Sunset said. "At all."

"Hmm." Dr. Swab looked at her for a long moment, then looked to her parents. He scratched his head. "It's possible she suffered some head trauma during the last two years, I guess. Or it might be purely psychological. People have been known to forget their entire lives for one reason or another. You usually see it in the homeless." He sighed. "I can order a CT scan just to be on the safe side."

Satin let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Doctor." She looked from Sunrise to Sunset, an encouraging smile on her face. "I'm...going to do some shopping," she said. "Do you...do you mind if I get your sizes from the clothes you were wearing last night? I'd like to get you a few things...for when you come home."

"Go right ahead," Sunset said.

While Satin went through Sunset's clothes and took notes, Sunrise frowned. "Well...I don't want to leave the hospital, and I wasn't planning on going in to the office today, but..." He sighed. "I guess I do need to do something about my car. And there are a couple of other things I should probably take care of." He sighed. "How long...?"

Dr. Swab shrugged. "I'd say come back around...four, maybe? We should be done by then."

"Alright." Satin took Sunset's hand and squeezed it gently, smiling at her. "Be strong, honey. We'll see you this afternoon, okay?"

Sunset nodded. "I...I will, Mom."

Her parents left, leaving Sunset alone with Dr. Swab, who was writing furiously on his clipboard. "Alright, Sunset, here's what we're going to do. I'm sending you down to radiology for a CT scan, then I'm going to have two very skilled, very capable nurses give you a more thorough looking-over than what you got last night. They're both women, so you don't need to feel embarrassed. After that, I'm going to see if I can get an OB/GYN to examine you, that's standard procedure when we're dealing with a teenage runaway such as yourself. That should keep you busy up through about lunch. After lunch, you'll be seeing Dr. Slate, he's our psychiatrist. Any questions?"

Sunset shook her head.

"Good." Dr. Swab smiled. "They'll be in to get you for your CT scan in a minute." He turned and left the room, leaving Sunset to think. She eyed the bottle of cola her mother had left on the table. She picked it up and, carefully and deliberately, twisted off the top, then drank the rest of it. A minute later, she let out a loud belch. Putting the empty bottle back on the table, she folded her hands behind her head and waited.

At fifteen minutes to four, Desert Sunrise and Sunset Satin returned to the hospital. After they spoke with the receptionist, she paged Dr. Swab, who rushed into the waiting room five minutes later, a bit breathless. "Good, you're here," he said. "We have a lot to talk about."

"Is something wrong, Doctor?" Satin asked fretfully. "Is...is there something wrong with our little girl?"

Dr. Swab sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Quite frankly, the only thing wrong is that there _is_ nothing wrong," he said. He looked at them with troubled eyes. "Aside from the injuries sustained in the accident, Sunset is in completely perfect health, which, I have to be honest, is next to impossible for a runaway who's been missing for two years. Runaways always have _something_ that needs attention. Malnutrition, scratches, scrapes, infections, STIs, signs of drug abuse..." He shrugged. "Runaways that come home never come home clean. Yours, well, did."

"But that's a good thing, right?" Sunrise asked hopefully.

"Well...yes and no," Dr. Swab said, shaking his head. "I mean, yes, as a doctor, I'm pleasantly surprised to see a girl in her situation in amazing health. I've never _seen_ a healthier teenager, other than the cracked ribs and the bruising and internal bleeding, all of which she sustained within the last twenty-four hours. The X-rays we took last night look good. Her CT scan from this morning looks good. The drug screening came back negative. Her blood oxygen level is perfect. I had two female nurses and an OB/GYN look her over while you were out, and there isn't a mark or a scar on her body that didn't come from you hitting her with your car. Her hymen isn't even torn."

Satin put a hand to her chest. "Then she's fine," she said.

"She's _too_ fine for a runaway who's been missing for two years," Dr. Swab said. "That's not the only thing, though. The clothes she was wearing? Brand new. She had no identification or money or anything in her pockets. She literally had nothing with her but a brand new set of clothes." He folded his arms. "I've treated a lot of runaways, Mrs. Satin. They show up in worn-out old clothes that are covered in dirt and dust. They have infected sores. They have scrapes and scratches. They have bruises. They're malnourished. They usually have traces of drugs in their system. They don't show up out of nowhere looking like a fashion model that just got off work." He cast his eyes down the hall toward Sunset's room. "This whole situation is _wrong_."

"What did the psychiatrist say?" Satin asked. "About her memory?"

Dr. Swab shook his head. "He's not a hundred percent. His initial diagnosis based on their first session is disassociative amnesia, but he put a possible malingering flag on his diagnosis. You'll have to speak with Dr. Slate directly tomorrow while we're running an MRI on Sunset to see if we missed anything in the CT scan."

Sunrise sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Look, Doctor," he said tiredly, "with all due respect, we don't care anymore. We just want her back. If she's healthy enough to go home and ready to go home, we want her home. If she wants to tell us where she's been and what she's been doing these last two years, she will. If she doesn't..." He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. We have our daughter back. We have our _family_ back. We just want to put this long nightmare behind us."

Dr. Swab frowned. "I understand how you feel," he said. "It's just that...you need to be aware that this situation doesn't make sense." He paused, then added, "I don't want to step on Dr. Slate's toes and I am _not_ a psychiatrist, but just between us, there are other things. Behavioral things the nurses and interns have picked up on just since this morning. You know how she insists she has no idea where she's been for the last two years?" At Sunrise's nod, he continued, "Well...this morning, she seemed to have trouble using the bathroom. The nurse said it was as though she'd forgotten how. Later, the same nurse observed her having trouble using a fork."

Satin's brow furrowed. "You know, it's strange," she said slowly. "She asked me to pour that drink in a cup for her. The cup was right there. The ice wasn't too far away. But she didn't just ask me to hand her the ice, she specifically asked me to pour it for her."

Sunrise groaned. "Now you've got _her_ doing it," he grumbled.

"Look, all I'm saying is I want to do an MRI _just to be sure_ ," Dr. Swab said stiffly. "Also, until she's had at least three sessions with Dr. Slate, I'm not signing her discharge."

Sunrise stood there for a long moment, staring down the doctor. Finally, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "I...I know you're just looking out for her. It's just..."

"Honey," Satin said, touching his arm gently. "We've waited this long. We can wait a few more days. Besides, she _is_ still healing. This might be better for her."

"Absolutely," Dr. Swab said. "Cracked ribs and the kind of bruises she has aren't difficult to treat at home by any means, but it'll be a little easier to manage here and it'll give the interns something to do." He offered a reassuring smile. "I just want to make sure when she does go home, you'll really be a family again and there aren't any..." He shrugged. "Surprises." He gestured with a shoulder towards Sunset's room. "Now, you should go visit your daughter. I'd prefer you not discuss any of what I said with her. Besides, you've got more important things to talk about, I'm sure."

"We certainly do," Sunrise said. "We've even got a little present for her."

"That's good, anything to cheer her up, get her talking." Dr. Swab shook his head. "She's just sitting there channel-surfing." He clapped Sunrise on the shoulder, then walked off.

Sunrise and Satin exchanged a worried, heavy glance, then squared their shoulders and headed for their daughter's room.

Sunset pressed the channel button again. Watched a few seconds of something inexplicably weird. Pressed it again. Watched a few seconds of something inexplicably stupid. Pressed it again. Watched a few seconds of something inexplicably mind-numbing.

Really, it was all there was to do now that they were finished cramming her into machines or poking her with things or looking at parts of her body _she_ hadn't even seen yet or sticking _freezing cold things up said parts_ or asking her a lot of questions that she had to convincingly shrug her way out of. Any second, she half-expected them to burst in, announce they had seen through her deception, and haul her off to whatever dungeons this world had.

The door opened, and Sunset turned down the volume as her parents walked in. "Hey, Mom and Dad!" she called cheerfully.

Satin smiled. "Hello, sweetheart," she said. "How are you feeling?"

"Still sore," Sunset said. "Tired. Kinda bored."

"Well, we have something that'll help with that," Satin said. She reached into the paper shopping bag she'd brought in with her and pulled out...something. It was bound in some firm magenta fabric, whatever it was. She opened a flap on one side of it and pulled out what looked like one of the strange clipboards the doctors and nurses all carried, except slightly larger and a different color. "You used to want one of these," she said. "But back then, we couldn't afford it, and frankly, your attitude wasn't..." She trailed off, grimacing. "A-anyway, I got it set up for you before we headed over here, but it still needs to charge..." She looked around the room for a minute, then spotted something just behind Sunset and to her right. She smiled and pulled a little plastic box out of the bag which had a long, thin cord wrapped around it. She unwrapped the cord and plugged the end of it into the clipboard, then mounted the box thing on the other end into two slots on the wall. A glowing amber light appeared on the edge of the clipboard.

Smiling and scooting closer, Satin touched something, and the thing lit up like the screen Sunset had been watching all day. Except instead of showing little movies, it showed a pattern of blue waves and a lot of little pictures with words under them, words like 'Tweetbook' and 'Messages' and 'Internet' and 'Games' and 'Photos' and 'Music'. At the top, it said '4:08pm'. Satin slipped a fingernail into a little groove on the edge and popped out a small plastic pen. "Let me just make sure we're connected to the hospital wi-fi..." She tapped the pen against the picture that said 'Internet', and the screen turned white, with a little rectangle box in the middle. She tapped something else, and a black box with all the letters of the alphabet in it appeared underneath that. "You know how to use this, right?" Satin asked.

"I, uhh...I think I can figure it out," Sunset said.

"Well, here's the instruction manual, just in case," Sunrise said, pulling a thin, flappy book out of the bag and tossing it over to Sunset. "Now, be careful with that. I don't think we can afford a replacement if you break it."

"I'll be careful," Sunset promised.

"And be sure to unplug it when it finishes charging," Satin said. "You know what they say can happen if you leave these things plugged in too long."

"Okay." Sunset sat the thing—which she learned from glancing at the instruction manual was called a 'tablet computer'—on her lap, and began reading the instructions very intently.

"If...if there's anything else you need," Satin said, "Don't hesitate to ask."

"I, umm...could actually, maybe, really use some...books?" Sunset said hopefully.

"Books?" Satin asked, blinking.

"Yeah. About...about anything, really."

"That's not a problem," Sunrise said, picking up the tablet from Sunset's lap and messing around with it for a few minutes. "I'll just add you to my account and you can use the digital library. It doesn't have every _single_ book, but I think it's got enough books to keep you busy." After a minute, he handed it back, and Sunset looked at the screen.

The little rectangle box and the letter box had been replaced by a black screen with a red banner across the top, and a long list of categories: Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror, Thriller, Novelizations, Crime, Inspirational...on and on it went. She scrolled down the list and saw History, Culture, Self-Help, and more. _*Interesting...*_ She smiled gratefully at her parents.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "Really. Thank you." _*You've just given me exactly what I need.*_

Sunset divided her attention between talking to her "parents" and reading the instructions for the tablet. Just the instruction book was informative in ways the writers probably never intended, as she learned that it ran on electricity and emitted and received radio waves, carried a risk of electrical shock if mishandled, and that the thing it was plugged into at the wall was called an AC outlet. As she learned more from the instructions, she tested little things out on the tablet itself; she learned how to open the calendar, and discovered that the date was 'July 7'. Further exploration of the calendar showed her a total of twelve months, as opposed to Equestria's eight, and a year number that just made no sense whatsoever. _*It was Summermoon in Equestria...the weather here feels about the same, at least.*_

At half past four, Satin asked Sunset if she wouldn't mind turning the TV to a certain channel. She did so, and was treated to a scene of a courtroom with a woman and a man appearing before an elderly female judge who seemed to be fairly angry and impatient. The man was suing the woman over a loan of money and some items he purchased for her, and the woman was contending that the items and money were all gifts. Apparently, they had been engaged to be married, but then she had broken it off. Sunset watched with interest as the judge berated them for not having documents they were supposed to have and for generally being stupid people.

 _*I kinda like this judge.*_

When the show broke for an advertisement for some sort of diarrhea medication (Sunset had observed that the things shown on TV all carried advertisements every eight to ten minutes or so), Sunrise left the room to get them all something to drink. When he brought the drinks back, Satin moved to get Sunset's ice bucket, but she waved her off and twisted the cap off her own drink, which was quite cold enough on its own. Satin seemed nonplussed by that, and exchanged a significant glance with Sunrise, whose brow furrowed in thought.

Sunrise and Satin stayed with Sunset, watching TV and talking with her as she absorbed all the information in the tablet's instruction booklet, then began browsing the list of books she could read in the digital library. Evidently, this world had a technology called the 'Internet', which made massive amounts of information available anywhere at any time.

The prospect made Sunset giddy.

A while after they arrived (and long after the tablet had finished charging), an orderly brought Sunset's dinner, which consisted of what appeared to be a hayburger, except with something similar to the tasty little grey pucks from Sunset's breakfast, as well as fries, a small salad, and a gelatin cup.

"Well," Sunrise said with a grimace, "it's been a long day, and I think we'll get out of here and let you enjoy your dinner and get some rest." He stood up; beside him, Satin did the same.

"We'll see you again tomorrow, okay sweetie?" Satin said.

Sunset smiled. "Sure thing, Mom. Dad."

After a round of hugging and a promise to bring her a 'cell phone' the next day, they left. Sunset opened her ketchup packets and squirted them over the fries, then crammed three in her mouth, picked her tablet up, went back to the Internet search page, and searched for 'cell phone'. After filtering through a lot of useless links to places _selling_ them, she found actual information on what one was, and mentally filed it away as a Useful Thing To Have. She then searched the same site (which conveniently had its own internal search feature) for 'TV', and spent the rest of dinner learning exactly what the screen she'd spent all day staring at was.

From there, she spent most of the evening tapping one link after another from the first article, opening a deep well of information from which she drank greedily.

The tablet's battery was at 7% by the time she was too exhausted and too bleary-eyed to learn any more; she powered it off, plugged it in to charge, and lowered her bed so she could sleep comfortably. A nurse came in and turned off the room lights; the sun was setting outside.

Sunset closed her tired eyes and smiled as she snuggled into the pillow.

 _*Human. Homo sapiens sapiens. The only extant member of the Hominina clade, belonging to the family of great apes. That's what I am now. I wonder if the old nag has even figured_ _ **that**_ _much out yet?*_

 **see you all next chapter when i post it. I like cats and like to talk like them some times and I take out the author notes from** **MythrilMoth** **cheer princess and add my own so yeah help to see you all the next time I post a new chapter from** **MythrilMoth** **bye.**


	6. Chapter 6 side clestia 1

**I'M BACK AND I HOPE YOU ARE ALL READY FOR A NEW CHAPTER IN THIS WONDERFUL STORY and I know four chapters in under 24 hours of different stories but I just really wanted to give you guys and girls something to read so yea I hope you all enjoy this.**

Princess Celestia awoke to a sensation thoroughly alien to her.

Golden rays of sunlight streamed through the window above her bed, spilling across the powder blue linen covering her and gently warming her face.

 _*Mmm...feels nice,*_ she thought sleepily.

Exactly five seconds later, her eyes flew open, and she shot straight up in bed.

"The sun is up? But how? I...WHO RAISED THE SUN?!" Her heart racing, she looked around the unfamiliar room...then down at herself.

And remembered everything from the night before.

She slumped back against the headrest, hand to her hammering heart. "Not Equestria," she panted. "Not home. No longer an alicorn. No magic. This sun is not mine to control." As her heart calmed, she let out a deep, sorrowful sigh. "Equestria..." She bowed her head. "Please, Mother, let your spirit guide Cadance. She can do what needs to be done. She...she has to."

There was a knock on the door. Celestia adjusted her gown. "Enter," she said.

The door opened, and Principal Celestia walked in, a faintly amused smile on her face. "Good morning," she said. She raised an eyebrow. "That was quite an interesting thing you yelled out just now. It seems someone needs to be taught basic science."

"I...umm..." Princess Celestia coughed. "A-anyway...good morning," she said. "And thank you for allowing me to stay here for the night."

"Actually, we're thinking of extending your stay with us, if that's alright with you," Principal Celestia said. "We can talk about it over breakfast." She laid a bundle she was carrying on the dresser. "I went through some of my old things and found some clothes that should fit you. I washed them, so they're..." She yawned. "Good to go. They might be a little out of style, but it'll do for when you and Luna go shopping today."

"Oh. Thank you," Princess Celestia said, blinking.

"I didn't want to chance one of my old bras," Principal Celestia said, "and the shoes you had with you should be okay." She grimaced. "Bras and panties should be top priority when you and Luna go out."

 _*I have no idea what that is.*_ "R-right."

Principal Celestia folded her arms. "We've decided to call you Tia," she said. "Is that alright?"

'Tia' nodded. "It's been...a very long time since I was called that, but I don't mind."

"Good!" Celestia said, clapping her hands with a bright smile. "I'll leave you to get dressed, then. Come to the kitchen when you're ready."

"Alright." Tia smiled. "Thank you."

Celestia nodded, then left. Tia sighed as the door closed. "I hope putting my faith and trust in these alternate versions of myself and my sister was the wise thing to do." She stood, wobbling for a moment as her new body's center of gravity asserted itself, and studied herself in the mirror. Her hair was loose from the ponytail she'd been wearing the previous night, and the jewelry she'd been wearing was missing. She was clad in a simple dark blue gown. After inspecting it for a moment, she slipped it off over her head, folding it neatly and laying it on the bed. She then studied her reflection in the mirror.

The only hair on her body was just above her feminine area, and it matched her pastel mane in color, but was sedately trimmed, barely present at all. The entire lower half of her body looked strange compared to what she knew of pony anatomy—truly exhaustive knowledge, considering her great age and breadth of experience.

The strangest part wasn't her hairlessness, lack of hooves, nor the wiggly little toes she had. The strangest part was that her teats were, for whatever reason, on her chest.

And rather larger than they should be.

"That's...not right," she said with a frown. She cupped them with her hands, testing them for swollenness or discharge, but aside from a slight sensitivity which made her breath hitch, there didn't seem to be anything _wrong_ with them aside from their size and position. Shaking her head and sighing, she walked over to the dresser, picking through the clothes the other Celestia had left.

 _*No._ _ **Just**_ _Celestia. I need to start thinking of her as Celestia and myself as Tia, at least so long as I remain in this world.*_

The garments were curious, if lacking in visual appeal. The nobles in Canterlot would certainly have declared a scandal if they saw their Princess wearing such things. All in all, there were three garments in the pile: a pair of old, faded blue jeans, a yellow T-shirt with a sun motif emblazoned across the front in black, and a small, silky white garment that gave her pause. She frowned and walked over to the chair in which Luna had piled the things she'd worn the night before, sifting through them. There was a similar, if finer, deep pink garment there. "Was I wearing that?" she wondered. "I don't remember seeing it..."

The door opened. "Tia, I'm making waffles, is there anyth—oops! Sorry," Luna's voice called.

Tia turned around, holding the two pairs of panties. "A little help here?" she asked, holding them up for inspection. "I'm a little confused."

Luna blinked at her. "By what? Which pair of panties to wear? It doesn't matter, just wear the clean ones."

"No, I mean—I don't even know what these are," Tia said.

Luna stared at her. "Seriously?" she asked.

Tia shrugged. "I've never seen anything like this before," she said apologetically.

Luna facepalmed. "Oh, for..." She shook her head. "You wear them under your pants, skirt, or dress. See where your legs go in?"

Tia examined the panties again, and blinked. "Oh...yes, I see," she said. She blushed. "Kind of obvious, I guess."

Luna snorted. "Anyway, as I was saying, I've got blueberries and I've got chocolate chips. Which do you prefer?"

"Blueberries sound lovely," Tia said as she stepped into the panties and pulled them up, noting the way they fit snugly against her crotch and rear.

"You and my sister both," Luna said, shaking her head. "Oh well, more chocolate chips for me!"

As Luna left, Tia put on the jeans and T-shirt, then slipped on the sandals she'd worn the night before. She examined the jewelry which had been laid out on the dresser. After several attempts to put it on, she gave up with a sigh, examining her fingers.

"Okay, before anything else, I need to figure out how to use _these_ ridiculous things," she muttered. Shaking her head, she left to join her hosts for breakfast. As she moved through the house, tantalizing aromas and scintillating sizzling sounds enticed her senses, and she inhaled deeply, letting out a soft, appreciative moan. _*I do so enjoy sitting down to a good breakfast,*_ she mused to herself as she wove her way through the living room toward the brightly-lit kitchen. She saw Celestia seated at the table, a coffee mug in one hand, a newspaper in the other. Celestia looked up as she approached and smiled, gesturing to the chair beside her. Tia sat down, folding her hands primly in her lap.

"Not wearing your earrings today?" Celestia asked. "That's a shame, they're rather pretty."

Tia paused briefly, contemplating what to say. She had already told her hosts so much, and yet...

Celestia must have picked up on her apprehension, because she put her paper down and turned fully to face her. "Tia?"

Tia sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm just..." She shook her head. "Last night, in my panic and vulnerability, I fear I said too much. Were I not..." She paused. "Were I more... _collected_ , I believe I would have been more guarded with what information I shared." Luna set a glass of orange juice in front of her, and she picked it up and drank a third of it. "Still..." She examined her hand, studying the tapered, glossy fingernails. "If I am...if I am to trust my fate for the next thirty moons to the two of you, I should probably be as honest as possible. It's just..." She looked at Celestia nervously. "I fear such honesty will lead the two of you to think me insane."

"We already think that," Luna said cheerfully as she plated a waffle and poured more batter into the iron, then tended to something sizzling in a skillet. "Might as well go for broke, right?"

"Luna," Celestia said in a patient but firm tone of warning. She then turned a soft, reassuring smile on Tia. "The state of your mental health notwithstanding, you are clearly a young lady in need of help. And your... _disturbing_ resemblance to me...effectively makes you our responsibility in any case." She sipped her coffee. "I have spent much of the night pondering you, your story, and your claims. For the moment, I am willing to accept anything you tell us on faith, provided you are honest with us. I will know if you attempt to deceive us or withhold anything," she added warningly. "If you are truly me—"

"I know," Tia said. "It is not easy—nor wise—to lie to me, and the same must be true of you."

The sounds of sizzling stopped. Luna started putting food on two plates, which she brought over and set in front of them. She then finished fixing her own breakfast and brought it over, sitting across from them. With the distraction of food, Tia found she could leave more sensitive topics aside for the moment. Her plate held two crisp, golden blueberry waffles, a generous portion of fluffy scrambled eggs, and three strips of bacon—though it looked and smelled quite different from the hay bacon Tia was familiar with. She picked up a piece and broke it in half, noting its greasy texture, and bit into it. After chewing for a moment, she said, "This is good. It's...different from anything I'm accustomed to, however. What is it?"

"It's bacon," Luna said as she poured syrup over her waffles.

"I know it's bacon," Tia said. "What I mean is, what's it made from?"

The sisters blinked at each other. "It's made from bacon," Luna said flatly.

"It's pork," Celestia elaborated.

Tia tilted her head. "Meat?"

"Yes, meat," Luna said as she cut a large bite of her waffles and brought it to her mouth.

Celestia poured syrup on her own waffles and turned to Tia. "Meat seems to be a hangup of yours," she said. "You're not a vegetarian, are you?"

Tia thought about how to answer that as she accepted the syrup for her own waffles. "I...am not accustomed to eating meat," she said. "It isn't...it isn't common or customary for my species to eat meat."

"Oh, right, I forgot, you're not human," Luna said, rolling her eyes.

"Human," Tia said, studying her hands as she cut into her own pancakes. "That's what I am now?"

"Yes," Celestia said. She frowned. "You seem to be having trouble with your fork," she said. "I noticed that last night as well."

Tia ducked her head. "I'm...trying to copy the way you and Luna use your utensils," she said.

"Do you not have forks and spoons where you come from?" Luna asked.

"No, we do have them," Tia said. "I just..." She looked at her hosts.

"You can trust us," Celestia said with a patient smile. "Whatever the problem is, you can trust us."

Tia looked into her eyes, saw the understanding and comfort there, and nodded. "I don't normally have, well...these," she said, wiggling her fingers.

"You don't have hands?" Luna asked curiously.

Tia shook her head. "It's an unfamiliar experience for me."

"Then how do you handle things like forks and pens?" Luna asked.

"Magic," Tia replied.

"Of course you do," Luna muttered, biting into a strip of bacon.

"You never actually mentioned what you..." Celestia paused for a bite of eggs. "What species you are."

"I deliberately avoided it," Tia admitted. "I thought it would be...too much."

Luna snorted. "Right, because 'I'm a magical princess from a magical alternate world and that statue outside CHS is a magical portal' was normal dinner conversation," she said.

Celestia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Luna," she hissed, " _try_ to be more supportive and less... _you_."

Luna gave her a look that Tia knew all too well from her own sister, and as painful as the memories were, she couldn't help but giggle. "Lulu always did delight in antagonizing me, especially at breakfast," she said.

Luna seemed taken aback. "Where did you hear that name?" she asked. "Ti—my sister hasn't called me that in _years_."

Tia smothered a naughty smirk, bringing her orange juice to her lips. "Did she stop calling you that before or _after_ she stopped calling you Woona?"

Celestia, who had been in the middle of a sip of coffee, produced a textbook-perfect spittake. Luna stared, jaw agape, at Tia, whose eyes twinkled devilishly. She then looked accusingly at Celestia. "What the _fuck_ did you tell her?" she hissed.

"I didn't tell her anything!" Celestia insisted, laughing as she mopped up coffee.

Tia smirked as she picked at another strip of bacon. "If you needed any more proof that I truly am Celestia," she said before popping the bacon into her mouth. After chewing it, she hummed thoughtfully. "I could get used to this. What animal does this meat come from?"

"Pigs," Celestia said.

"Hmm." Tia licked her fingers clean, then cut into her waffles again. "And...animals in your world are not sapient, I trust?"

Luna snorted. "Of course not," she said. "Humans are the only sapient species."

"And some great apes, and dolphins and whales," Celestia amended. "At least, that's what scientists think."

Tia frowned. "And...horses? Cows? Sheep? Donkeys?"

"No, of course not," Celestia said dismissively. "Horses are beautiful and intelligent creatures, don't get me wrong, it's why they're so highly revered in our society and culture. But they're no more sapient than the dog that keeps peeing on my azaleas."

"And cows aren't any of the above," Luna said. "The one thing they _are_ is delicous."

Tia suppressed a shudder. "You don't...eat equines, I hope?"

Celestia made a disgusted face. "Of course not," she said.

Tia sighed in relief.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me horses and cows and sheep talk where you come from," she said in a mildly sarcastic tone.

"Yes," Tia said simply.

Celestia stared at her, eyes wide. "Seriously?"

"Yes," Tia repeated. "All equines, most bovines." She took a deep breath, then plunged in. "Myself included."

Luna dropped her fork.

Celestia blinked. After a moment, she slowly said, "Equestria."

"The name is not coincidental," Tia said.

Luna shook her head, then peered at Tia with narrowed eyes. "You're...a horse."

"Pony," Tia clarified.

"You're telling us...you're a horse princess."

"That's right."

"From a magical land of talking horses."

Tia took a bite of eggs, staring at Luna with as open and honest an expression as she could muster.

Luna glanced from her to Celestia. "Say something," she said.

Celestia opened her mouth, started to talk, stopped, then shook her head. "No wonder you're having trouble with your hands," she said numbly.

"You seriously expect us to believe you're a _magical talking horse princess_ who has somehow turned human," Luna said flatly.

"I don't expect you to believe anything," Tia said. "I have told you the truth. Whether or not you choose to believe it is up to you." She looked from Luna to Celestia, then wiped her mouth. "My name is Princess Celestia of Equestria. I am one of the last Alicorns. I have lived for over three thousand years. I have seen empires rise and fall. For millennia, I have raised the sun each morning and lowered it each night. I have fought and defeated usurpers, dragons, and demigods. I have ruled Equestria for most of my life. I am, to my dismay, worshipped as a goddess by many of my subjects. And in all of my many years of life, I have made three great mistakes. One of those mistakes separated me from my sister. Another led to my own personal heartbreak when I was forced to part with the one I loved. And the last...has brought me here." She finished her orange juice. "For the first time in a thousand years, I feel alone, small, and afraid. You—alien counterparts of myself and my beloved sister—are the only ones I can trust and rely on in this strange world where I am powerless." She looked from Celestia to Luna, her eyes old, tired, and sad. "That is the truth."

Tia finished her breakfast in the silence that followed her proclamation. Luna and Celestia watched her eat, neither seeming to want to speak.

Once Tia's plate was clear, Celestia swallowed heavily. "Alright," she said. "We'll do whatever we can to help you. Right, Luna?"

Luna nodded dazedly. "Of...of course," she agreed, still staring at Tia with wide eyes. She shook herself, then drained her coffee cup. "We...we'll need to get you some things. Clothes, a phone..."

"A computer," Celestia said. "She'll absolutely need a computer. I'll...I'll help you learn how to use your hands."

"Thank you," Tia said gratefully, frowning at her fingers. "It's...it's getting easier, just sitting here eating breakfast." She flexed her index finger experimentally, curled her hand into a fist, then spread it out flat. "I believe it will simply take practice."

"Would you like me to help you with your earrings now?" Celestia offered.

"Please," Tia said. "Also, would you mind putting my hair up for me the way it was last night? I rather liked it."

Celestia smiled. "Of course."

A half hour later, Tia, now wearing her earrings and necklace and with her hair back in a high ponytail, sat as the line judge and sole observer of what was, to her, a very confusing argument.

"A tablet would be more practical," Celestia said.

Luna slammed a fist on the kitchen table. "Tablets are for boring people who lack creativity!" Luna insisted. "Tia is _obviously_ a very creative girl—"

"Thank you," Tia interjected primly.

"—so she needs a _laptop!_ "

"We're not turning a magical pony princess into a gamer, Luna," Celestia said mildly.

"You think I just want somebody new to pwn?" Luna exclaimed incredulously. "I could pwn all of Canterlot in my sleep! I just think she needs more..." She flexed a bicep. " _Muscle_ out of whatever we get for her! I mean, she clearly has a great deal to learn. Do you really think a dinky _tablet_ is going to have enough memory and power?"

"I fail to see how a laptop provides more educational value than a tablet," Celestia said. "They both have equal access to the same information on the web—"

"Sister," Luna said patiently, "tablets _suck_."

"They most certainly do not!" Celestia said.

Luna began ticking points off on her fingers. "You've never gotten your tablet to work with our home printer **or** the school printers. Streaming video is garbage on a tablet. Memory is garbage on a tablet. Storage is garbage on a tablet. If Tia truly knows _nothing_ about our world, she's going to need full cultural immersion just to fit in and not be branded a freak. That means movies, music, memes, _everything_. And how is she to learn how to use her hands without a proper keyboard to learn to type on?"

Celestia frowned. "Fair points," she admitted. "Still—"

"And," Luna said, waving her phone (Tia had at least learned what that particular device was called, if little else) at Celestia, "Blue Box is offering twenty percent off if you buy a laptop and a smartphone."

Celestia paused, frowning. "Contract?"

"Two year."

"What's the monthly?"

"Reasonable."

Celestia pursed her lips. "Tia? What do you think?"

Tia blinked. "I honestly have no idea what the two of you are talking about." She shifted slightly. "Umm...I don't know if I'm comfortable with the two of you spending what sounds like a significant amount of money on me."

Celestia waved her off airily. "Don't worry about it," she said. "We have more than enough money to support you, and...well..." She smiled sadly. "I've always wished I had a daughter to spoil. I just never made the time to start a family."

Tia nodded sympathetically. "I know what you mean," she said. "Over the centuries, I have had the occasional suitor, but have only ever been in love once, and that ended...awkwardly." She coughed. "I have, of course, adopted many fillies and colts over the years, attempting to fill the void, but I fear I have never been the best mother figure." She sighed. "As evidenced by the current situation with Sunset Shimmer."

"That reminds me," Celestia said, pulling out her own phone. She showed it to Tia. "Is this her?"

Tia blinked. "Yes, it...it certainly does look like her. Although she looks...different." She frowned as she scanned the surrounding text. "Missing teen? Suspected runaway? What—"

"It's a news article from two years ago," Celestia said. "I follow news reports of missing children from across the country. I'm a member of a volunteer watch of sorts that keeps an eye out for troubled teens who have run away from home. That's why the name Sunset Shimmer rang a bell."

"This Sunset Shimmer disappeared from her home in Fillydelphia two years ago," Luna said.

Tia frowned. "Then she is definitely the Sunset Shimmer native to this world," she said. "The Sunset Shimmer I chased through the portal has been my student for six years." She sighed. "I hope she's alright..."

Luna coughed. "We have a lot of shopping to do today," she said. "We should...we should really get going."

"And I need to get over to the school," Celestia said. "The paperwork never ends." She glanced at Luna. "I'll leave it up to you what to buy her," she said. "Just...use good judgment, alright?"

"Leave it to me," Luna said. "Come, Tia! Blue Box awaits."

Celestia tilted her head. "Shouldn't you go clothes-shopping first? Especially considering the, ahem, underwear situation?"

Luna smirked. "Think about the kind of person who works at Blue Box, sister," she said in a devious tone.

Celestia blinked...then groaned. "And this is why summer Luna is worst Luna," she muttered.

Ten minutes later, Luna's car backed out of the driveway, with Tia firmly belted into the passenger seat. "What exactly powers this carriage?" Tia wondered aloud. "I had suspected steam, but—"

Luna glanced askance at her. "Are you serious about being from some kind of storybook fantasy world?" she asked. "I mean, really."

"I have spoken nothing but the truth of my home and life," Tia said tersely. "I understand your skepticism, but I also grow weary of it."

"So if you're three thousand years old, why do you look like you're fifteen?"

Tia shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I don't understand the magic that governs the portal. Not even Starswirl the Bearded fully understood how the portals worked, and he was the wizard who created them." She glanced at Luna curiously. "How old are you and Celestia?"

"I'm twenty-eight," Luna said. "Celestia is thirty-six."

"Well, the age difference between you is the same as the age difference between me and my sister," Tia said with a frown. "It _is_ puzzling that I'm not an exact duplicate of this world's Celestia," she mused. "Then again, I've only encountered parallel versions of myself a handful of times. There are... _usually_ differences." She shook her head. "Anyway, back to the carriage."

"Car," Luna said. "We just call them cars." She coasted to a stop at an intersection. "This car's a hybrid. It runs off either gas or a battery."

Tia gave her a blank look. Luna sighed as she turned right and continued on. "I guess your magical pony land doesn't have engines."

"Oh, we do have engines," Tia said. "Usually they run on steam. Most of our trains are powered by steam."

"Wow," Luna said in a dry, sardonic tone. "I've never even been on a steam train. I think they decommissioned the last steam locomotive about fifteen years ago. All the trains today are either diesel or electric."

"Ah, electricity!" Tia said in a bright tone. " _That_ , I know! We have seven hydroelectric dams in Equestria, providing power transmission to most of our towns and cities." She paused, then added, "We don't use it for much, though. Mostly hospital equipment and some lighting. Oh, and refrigeration. Electric refrigerators are far more efficient. But apart from that, electricity is more a curiosity than anything."

"You're kidding," Luna said flatly, risking a perplexed stare at Tia. "Here, _everything_ runs on electricity. We are quite literally helpless without it."

"That seems...dangerous," Tia said. "What happens if the electricity fails?"

"We wait for the power company to fix it," Luna said simply. "With increasing degrees of panic, fit-throwing, and so forth, depending on how addicted to technology we are."

"And if it can't be repaired?"

"I don't think that's even possible with today's technology," Luna said. She turned onto a much broader road which was densely packed with cars. Tia looked out the window with interest. Dozens of vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and colors whizzed past along three lanes of shimmering pavement. Even more vehicles, moving in the opposite direction, passed on a road that ran parallel to the one they were presently on; the two were separated by a series of grassy dividers surrounded by yellow-painted cement. Signs along the side of the road offered information—presumably; none of it made sense to Tia—as well as advertisements for various things.

"I really do have a lot to learn, it seems," Tia mused.

"Well, you have plenty of time," Luna said.

Fifteen minutes later, Luna pulled into the parking lot of a large building with a bright blue roof and a sign above the broad glass entrance which said 'BLUE BOX'. "And here we are," she said. "If Celestia asks, we did _not_ come here first, alright?"

Tia rolled her eyes. "I don't understand why the two of you were arguing about which store to visit first. It seems...silly."

Once Luna found a parking place and turned off the motor, they got out of the car and walked to the entrance. Tia gaped up at the store. "This building is...rather large," she said.

"Well, it's an electronics and appliance store," Luna said. "It wouldn't be much of one if it were small." She glanced at Tia. "What, stores aren't very big in your magical horse land?"

Tia shook her head numbly. "The largest stores in Canterlot can accomodate maybe...twenty customers at a time, if that."

Luna snorted. "In that case, the mall's going to give you a heart attack." Shaking her head, she led the way through the glass doors, which slid open as the ladies approached.

Upon entering, a gangly man with pimply cream-colored skin and slicked-back brown hair walked up to them. He wore khakis, a blue polo shirt with the store logo, and round-framed black glasses. "Vice-Principal Luna!" he said in a high, nasally voice.

Luna smiled. "Giz," she said. "You graduated two years ago, you can just call me _Ms._ Luna now."

Giz chuckled. "Okay." He glanced at Tia, blinked, and looked again, his mouth hanging open. "Wha-what the...?"

"This is our younger cousin Tia," Luna said quickly. "I know, the resemblance to my sister is _very_ striking, is it not? She's new in town and will be staying with us for a while. I'm afraid all of her baggage was lost, so we're replacing everything she owns today."

"I, uh, I see," Giz said distractedly. There was a faint blush to his cheeks.

Luna snapped her fingers sharply in his face. "We're here to pick up a laptop and a smartphone for Tia," she said briskly.

"Oh! Oh. Right." Giz cleared his throat. "What kind of, umm...what kind of laptop did you have in mind?" he asked Tia.

"Umm...I'm letting my cousin decide," Tia said. "I don't know a lot about, umm...such things."

"Well, if anybody knows their computers, it's Ms. Luna," Giz said with a chuckle. "Come on back, you probably know where what you want is better than I do."

Tia tuned out the conversation between the two, looking around the store with interest. There were many things on display on the shelves and on the walls, and they were all very... _shiny_. Things which looked similar to the objects her hosts had in their living room were displayed, with placards proclaiming their features and prices. Many of them were lit up from within and showed images—some moving, some still.

She found herself simply wandering around, gawking at everything, lost in a reverie. She was so caught up in her rubbernecking that she collided with someone, who let out a startled grunt.

She turned to see a pale-skinned girl with electric blue hair, oversized purple sunglasses, and a pair of seafoam-green headphones standing behind her. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" she said.

The girl gave her a thumbs-up and a grin, then wandered off, bobbing her head.

"New friend?" Luna asked from behind her. Tia turned around. Luna smirked and nodded toward the front. "We're all set," she said. "Gizmo's ringing us up and activating your phone."

Tia followed Luna to the front of the store, where Gizmo waited with a slender cardboard box with a handle on top and a small assortment of packaged items. They stood waiting while he did whatever he was doing; after a few minutes, he started putting things into a plastic bag and read off a rather alarming-sounding total to Luna. Luna slid a thin card through a slot, which beeped. Something behind the counter spit out two long, thin reams of paper, which Gizmo tore off and handed to Luna. He then smiled at Tia. "Enjoy your new phone and laptop, and welcome to Canterlot!"

"Thank you," Tia said as Luna picked up the cardboard box in one hand while handing Tia the plastic bag. They left the store and walked back to Luna's car; the back end popped open, and Luna placed everything inside, slamming the lid.

"Next stop, the mall," Luna said as they got into the car.

"I...don't know how money works in this world yet," Tia said, "but it sounds as though you just spent...quite a bit."

"Well, it wasn't exactly cheap," Luna admitted, "but like Celestia said, we're not hurting. Don't worry about it."

Tia stared in stunned shock. "Wh-what is...what _is this?!_ "

Luna smirked. "Canterlot Mall."

Tia shook her head. "It's as big as my castle! Maybe bigger!"

Luna chuckled. "It is a castle, of sorts. A castle of retail shopping. Two hundred stores, though most of them sell worthless crap."

"How...how do you find anything in there?"

"Experience, browsing, the mall directory," Luna said airily. "Don't worry too much about it, though. We're only going to one place." She pointed to the nearest entrance; the wall surrounding it had a different appearance from the rest of the wall around it, a more muted blue-gray as opposed to the shining white with red brick trim of the rest of the mall. Tall indigo letters spelled out the logo "NAVY BLUE" above the glass doors and windows.

Inside, there were hundreds of racks and shelves of clothing, flowing in a veritable sea of color and cloth. Luna led Tia over to a long counter, where a smiling woman greeted them. Luna took the woman aside and spoke to her in hushed tones; the woman occasionally cast surprised glances at Tia, then worried at her lip as she spoke to Luna. This exchange went on for several minutes before the woman rooted around in a drawer and handed Luna a long, flexible measuring tape. Luna thanked her and led Tia through the back, down a corridor lined with curtained-off booths to either side. She knocked on the wall beside one, waited, then pulled back the curtain and ushered Tia inside. "Strip," she commanded. "All the way down."

Tia complied, removing every garment she had put on that morning. Luna approached her with the measuring tape, instructing her to move this way, turn that way, raise her arms, lower her arms, and more, all the while taking notes into her phone. When she was done, she picked up the panties Tia had put on that morning, checked something, and nodded. "Put these back on," she said. "After that, stay in here, keep that curtain closed. I'll be back shortly."

Tia put her panties back on and waited, shifting side to side uncomfortably. The tile floor chilled her bare feet.

Two minutes later, Luna walked back in, carrying a handful of odd-looking garments. "What are those?" Tia asked curiously.

"Bras," Luna said. "I worked it out so once we find one that fits, you can wear it while we finish shopping. The clerk here agreed to it since you're..." She shook her head. "Well, it's not important. Here, let me show you how this works."

Tia quickly caught on to the fact that the bra was designed to support and conceal her teats while restricting their movement. "I am a bit curious about these human teats," Tia said as Luna fastened the bra clasp at her back, then stepped in front of her to study her critically. "They seem...unnecessarily large, considering I have not, to my knowledge, had a foal recently."

"They're just like that," Luna said dismissively. "You get used to it." She smirked. "You'll get used to a lot of things." There was a vague, gleeful menace in that smirk that set Tia ill at ease. After a moment, Luna nodded in satisfaction, then clipped a small cardboard tag off the bra. "Okay, get dressed, we'll finish shopping."

Luna led Tia around the store. In addition to the bras, she selected several pairs of panties; Tia looked over the various pants, shirts, and skirts the store had, with Luna commenting on one or another item.

An hour later, they left Navy Blue with three huge bags of clothes. Tia now had a complete wardrobe of underwear, socks, jeans, shorts, skirts, tops, and four pairs of shoes. "This should hold you until closer to time for school to start," Luna said. "Celestia aims to enroll you in CHS. We'll go someplace a little less...clearance rack before then."

"Alright," Tia said. "So, are we done?"

"One more stop to make," Luna said as they put everything in the car. "The drug store. You'll need a few... _things_."

On the way home, Luna and Tia stopped to pick up pizza for lunch. The prospect of pizza was enticing to Tia; in Equestria, it was largely a Manehattan dish, and she had never actually had occasion to sample it.

When they pulled into the garage, Luna carried the pizza, breadsticks, and sodas they'd bought inside, while Tia took one bag of clothes and the cardboard box containing her laptop on her first trip. A second trip later, all the shopping was hauled into the house and laid out on Tia's bed.

"Let's plug your phone in and get it charging now," Luna said as she rooted around for paper plates. "We'll set up the laptop after lunch." She walked back to Tia's room and came back with a phone not unlike her own, with a metallic light blue back. Tia watched with interest as she connected a long, thin cord to the side of the phone, then attached the other end of the cord to one of the many beige panels on the walls.

"I've been meaning to ask about those little panels," Tia said.

Luna frowned. "You mean the power outlets?" she asked. "I thought you said your horse world has electricity."

"It does, but I haven't seen anything like that," Tia said.

Luna's brow furrowed. "So how do you get electricity where it needs to go?"

"Through the air?" Tia said, now feeling confused herself. "The coils transmit the power, it carries to the edge of transmission range..."

Luna's eyes widened. _"YOUR WORLD HAS WIRELESS ELECTRICITY?!"_ Her jaw dropped. "They've been trying to make that a viable technology here for over a century!"

"That's simply how it's always worked in Equestria," Tia said with a shrug. "Of course, unicorn magic is involved."

Luna's shoulders slumped. "Of course it is," she muttered. "Well, let's eat."

Luna carried the pizza, breadsticks, sodas, and paper plates over to the living room table and flopped down on the sofa. Tia joined her. "That pizza smells good," she commented.

"Guess you don't have _that_ in horse world either," Luna said.

"We do, but I've never had the opportunity to try it. I don't get up to Manehattan very often, and Canterlot's culinary guilds..." Tia grimaced. "They're... _particular_ about what sort of establishments are allowed within the city. The only time I've ever exerted my authority over their wishes was to allow a donut shop to open in Canterlot."

Luna shook her head. "Okay then." She opened the box and revealed the cheesy bounty within: a pepperoni pan pizza. She grabbed a slice for herself; Tia did likewise, placing it on her own plate. Luna divided up the breadsticks between them and gave Tia one of the two cups of dipping sauce. With food in front of her, she settled back in the couch. "Let's see what's on TV today," she said, picking up the remote from the table beside her and pointing it across the room.

The most prominent of the multitude of strange objects in the room came to life, showing a man walking back and forth in front of a map that had large green and yellow blobs moving across it. Luna frowned. "Oh great, it's going to be rainy later this week," she muttered.

Tia blinked. "Is this...a movie screen of some sort?"

"It's a television," Luna said. "It's how we get most of our news and entertainment here." She pressed a button on the remote, and the weather forecast was replaced by a couple engaged in an act of passion.

Tia stared. "This is entertainment?"

"Some people think so," Luna said. "Bah, I don't feel like channel-surfing." She pressed another button, and the scandalous images moved to one corner of the screen. The rest of the screen was filled with a grid that listed times, channel numbers, and what Tia assumed to be descriptions of the available choices. Luna evidently saw something that caught her fancy, because after a moment, the image changed to two men in cloaks circling one another, holding swords made of light. Luna turned to Tia with a smirk. " _Now_ it's a movie screen," she said before taking a large bite of pizza.

Tia watched intently as she took a bite of her own pizza. Her eyes widened. "Oh...oh my," she said. "This...this is wonderful!"

Luna grinned. "Pizza is one of the best dishes ever invented," she said. "It's a little on the fattening side and all the grease isn't good for you, but what is these days?"

Tia laughed softly. "I've often found the most delicious things are the ones that are the most fattening." She grimaced. "Although one photo printed out of context in one newspaper can lead to...disastrous situations."

"Oh?" Luna asked.

"Suffice to say I've picked up the rather embarrassing nickname 'Cakelestia', and there are rumors floating around that my diet consists of cake, cake, and more cake," Tia said as she took another bite of pizza. "What are these little round things? Is it more meat?"

"Pepperoni," Luna said. "And yes, it's meat, but don't ask what's in it. For one thing, nobody really knows. For another, nobody _wants_ to know." She picked an errant slice of pepperoni off her plate and popped it into her mouth. "Sometimes, ignorance is bliss." At Tia's forlorn glance, she added, "All anyone knows for certain is that it is allegedly mostly pork and beef. It just doesn't come from, shall we say, _prime cuts_."

Tia tilted her head in confusion, then shrugged. "I suppose part of adapting is not asking questions I'm probably better off not knowing the answers to," she decided before taking another bite of pizza. "As long as I don't develop an unsavory meat addiction by the time I'm able to return to Equestria, I can deal with eating meat here."

"That's the spirit!"

Tia winced as the action on the screen took a particularly violent turn. "So...what exactly are we looking at here?"

"It'd take longer to explain than there is time left in this movie," Luna said. She glanced at Tia. "You seem to know what movies are," she said. "You asked if this was a movie screen."

Tia nodded. "We have moving pictures in Equestria," she said. "They're a fairly recent thing. I don't pretend to understand how the technology works. It's one of many inventions a stallion named Time Turner has come up with."

"Time Turner," Luna repeated. "Brown hair, Trottingham accent, talks _very_ fast, sometimes acts as though he's much older than he looks?"

"That's him," Tia said. "Most who know him just call him Doctor."

"He teaches physics at CHS," Luna said absently.

"I have to admit, though, movies in Equestria are nowhere near this level of... _anything_ ," Tia said as she watched one of the men perform an impossible leap. "They're essentially just plays filmed in places other than on a stage."

"They're serious business here," Luna said. "Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent filming a single movie, special effects technology for films is some of the most advanced technology in the world..." She dunked a breadstick into marinara sauce. "The movie industry makes more money and wastes more money every year than some nations."

The movie ended on what Tia could only assume was a depressing note, having missed most of it and not knowing what was going on in general. As it ended, another movie started immediately; she settled in, enjoying the pizza and breadsticks and making idle conversation with Luna as they watched. This one was far less elaborate than the one preceding it, but still more sophisticated than anything Tia had ever seen. The story followed a teenager who had just moved to a new town, only to fall prey to a gang of bullies. The elderly maintenance man at the apartment building where he lived taught him to defend himself, and a confrontation with the martial arts instructor for the bullies ultimately led to the protagonist facing off against his tormentors in a tournament.

By the time the movie ended, they had finished off all the food, and Tia was feeling full and lethargic. Yet another movie seemed ready to start, but Luna changed the channel again; it only took Tia a moment to realize that the new program being displayed was a weather forecast.

"Well," Luna said, standing up with a grunt, "I think it's time you start learning how to use a computer. Help me clear the table, then we'll get your new laptop out and I'll start teaching you."

"Alright," Tia agreed.

Celestia managed to get loose from the office at half past four, which was two hours longer than she'd intended to work on a blazing hot July day. "I wish school _principals_ got to enjoy their summer as much as _certain other people_ ," she muttered to herself as she waited for her car's sluggish air conditioner to cool the scorching interior of the car. Even though the outside temp was only in the mid-eighties, the sun was strong, and the inside of her car was well over a hundred degrees. She'd checked in with Luna during the day, and no problems seem to have arisen with Tia.

On the way home, she stopped to pick up a frozen lasagna for dinner, as well as a loaf of garlic bread and a couple cartons of ice cream.

When Celestia walked through the door, she heard Tia's hauntingly familiar voice coming from the living room.

"Unicorns and pegasi are mythical here...humans think 'alicorn' means _what?_ That's just silly..."

"What's it say?" Luna asked.

"This thing says you humans think 'alicorn' just refers to a unicorn's horn or the substance it's made from," Tia said. "That's...that's absurd."

"So what _does_ it mean, miss horse princess?" Luna said in a snarky tone.

"That's...actually exactly what it means," Tia replied. "Alicorns are ponies with the magic of a unicorn, the wings of a pegasus, and the strength of an earth pony. Also, very long life spans. Not... _usually_ on the same level as my sister and I, granted, we're special cases, but Mother was over five hundred years old when she passed into the Elysian Fields."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at that as she set down the groceries on the kitchen table. "Classical mythology?" she asked.

"Ah, sister! Welcome back. I didn't hear you come in."

Celestia walked into the living room, where Luna was watching the news while Tia sat cross-legged on the sofa, engrossed in her new laptop. "So, I trust everything went well today?" she asked.

"Yes," Tia replied. "I'm already learning a great deal about this world." She sighed. "Mostly, I'm learning _how much_ I have to learn about this world."

Celestia chuckled. "Well, between the two of us and the Internet, I'm confident you'll learn quickly."

"Well, if nothing else, learning about your world will pass the time," Tia said. "And as concerned as I am about the state of Equestria, not to mention the matter of Sunset Shimmer...I have to confess I'm excited to have an entire new world of information at my fingertips."

"Well, I'm glad to hear some enthusiasm about learning," Celestia said. "You have slightly less than three months to get up to speed for the start of the next school year."

"Are you sure about enrolling her in CHS, Celestia?" Luna asked. "I mean—"

"I believe it is for the best," Celestia said. "Besides, if that statue at the school _is_ a magical portal to her world, would it not make sense to put her in a position to keep a close eye on it?"

"That's true," Tia said. "The first thing I learned once Luna showed me how this Internet of yours works is that in this world, magic is..." She grimaced. "Mostly fiction. Which means my best hope for returning to Equestria before thirty moons pass is if Cadance and the unicorn scholars of Canterlot find a way to breach the portal." She sighed again. "Otherwise, I'm stuck here for the duration, and...and I can only pray that my subjects can find a way to survive without me."

"Well, surely a council of intelligent, civic-minded, err...ponies...can manage to keep your kingdom from falling apart for a couple of years," Celestia said.

Tia gave her a sad look. "You don't understand," she said. "I haven't researched how the sun and moon work in your world yet, but in Equestria, I _personally_ am responsible for the beginning and end of each day and night. The spells the ancient unicorns used to do what I have done for millennia are lost to the ages. If Cadance can't somehow master the heavens without my guidance, Equestria's sky is stuck where it was when I left."

Celestia blinked. "Seriously? Well...what time of day was it when you, err, departed your world?"

"Twilight," Tia said.

"Oh dear," Celestia said after a pause. "Well..." She fumbled for anything encouraging to say, then gave up and shook her head. "I picked up a lasagna for dinner," she said. "I'm going to get dinner started early because I'm starving, is that alright with you girls?"

"Works for me," Luna said. "Those things take an hour to cook anyway."

"I'm looking forward to sampling more of this world's excellent cuisine," Tia chipped in.

Late in the evening, with a belly full of the heaviest pasta dish she'd ever eaten and a mind full of new information, new possibilities, and a whirlwind of fears, concerns, and anxieties, Tia changed into a nightgown and slipped into bed.

Elsewhere in the house, Celestia and Luna were having a last bowl of ice cream before bed as they watched the latest update on the storm front approaching the area. "She's imaginative, I'll give her that," Luna said.

"You're still skeptical of her claims?"

"Aren't you?"

"Hmm." Celestia ran her spoon through a swirl of chocolate syrup before spooning some mocha ice cream up and bringing it to her lips. "Let's just say for now, I'd rather accept that everything she's told us is the truth and do whatever I can to help her than waste energy on cynicism and doubt. Besides, if she truly is from another world, we have as much to learn from her as she does from us. Isn't that exciting?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, you certainly both share the same annoying enthusiasm for learning," she said.

Celestia stared at her. "How can you, an educator, be so... _dismissive_ of a thirst for knowledge?"

"I'm an administrator, not an educator," Luna pointed out. "And I encourage learning, of course, in all the students who pass through CHS. I just think _some_ people are a little _too_ invested in learning for the sake of learning."

Celestia pursed her lips. "Ah, yes. I had forgotten those six years you insisted on calling me 'Nerdlestia'." She stuck her tongue out at her sister.

Luna smirked, then dipped her spoon into her bowl. "I just...don't know what to make of her yet, I guess," she said. "Regardless of whether or not I believe her story, it's hard to fake her level of ignorance about, well... _everything_. At the very least, she clearly desperately needs our help."

"That much, we are in complete agreement on," Celestia said. "And if it turns out she truly _is_ , as she claims, a magical talking equine princess?"

Luna paused, pondering that, then shrugged. "Dibs on her laptop when she goes home?"

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Finish up and get some sleep," she said. "We've got a long day tomorrow."

"We do?"

Celestia smirked. "You'll see..."

 **see you all next time and this is the rule link if you want to check this story out. LINK: story/327743/1/cheer-princess/side-celestia-prologue I hope you like and please R &R see ya'.**


	7. chapter 7 side sunset 2

**I am back with a new chapter and oh I will be taking a brake today after I upload this chapter, but that does not mean i am not working on other stories or chapters it just mean I will not be uploading them to this website or any for that mater just relaxing and going school work instead of uploading fanfiction to here. any way on with this story hope you all like this.**

"This body actually _does that?_ " Sunset wondered aloud with a disgusted grimace. "That's actually a thing girls do here? Gross!"

It was just past six in the morning. The sky outside was already beginning to glow with the early hues of daybreak, and Sunset had been awake for almost an hour. As soon as the disoriented fog of sleep had cleared from her brain, she had picked up her tablet and resumed her studies.

Given everything she'd experienced the day before, she decided that human physiology was top priority for today, and that meant brushing up on parts of the human body, differences between male and female anatomy, and—presently—feminine intimate health, a subject she had become acutely aware of through context links in other articles.

She had just finished reading about menstruation. The idea of regularly experiencing cramps and bleeding from her sexual organs filled her with disgust and dread.

On the plus side, at least she finally knew what breasts were. And why they thought she'd be more concerned about having bruised one. She'd also discovered, through...less clinical research...more about the _real_ importance of breasts in human culture and society, and that she had evidently hit a particularly perverse jackpot in her transformation into a human. Her new body came with a devastating psychological weapon. She couldn't wait to use it.

But first, she had more pressing concerns. Setting down her tablet, she gingerly levered herself off the bed, took hold of her IV stand, and crossed over to the bathroom. Fumbling for the light switch just inside, she turned it on, then approached the toilet.

She set her mouth in a determined line, hiked up her gown, and sat down.

After relieving herself, she carefully cleaned herself, then washed her hands and left the bathroom. The sky was brighter now; she walked back over to the bed. Her ribs were starting to hurt. As soon as she was back in bed, she pressed the nurse call button.

In less than three minutes, Sugar Pill—the curly-haired nurse from the previous day—entered. "Good morning, sweetie!" she said. "Do you need help going to the bathroom?"

"I already went," Sunset said. "I just need some ice for my ribs."

Sugar Pill blinked. "You went? By yourself?"

Sunset smiled gamely. "When you gotta go, right?"

Sugar Pill giggled. "Alright. Let me go get you an ice pack." As she left the room, she paused to check the bathroom, then glanced back at Sunset, eyes wide in surprise, before heading out.

Sunset smirked.

As soon as Sugar Pill returned with the ice pack and went through the routine of checking up on her, Sunset picked her tablet back up and pursed her lips, trying to decide what to look up next. Her earlier information binge had been driven by specific cues and acknowledged gaps. Now, she had to decide what to look for information about next, and nothing seemed to stick out in her mind.

She glanced up at the TV, reached for the remote, and turned it on. There was a man in an expensive suit giving an impassioned speech about...something or other, it made no sense to her. She thought about flipping through the channels idly again as she had done the day before.

She paused, glancing at her tablet.

The Internet had a _lot_ of information. What if...

After a few false starts, she found what she was looking for: a schedule of programs whose channel numbers matched what she'd seen before. "Basic cable," she murmured, brow furrowed in thought. "Let's see...television transmission is divided into...terrestrial wireless signal transmission, cable transmission, and satellite transmission, whatever the hay _that_ is." Having a program schedule turned out to not be very useful when she had no idea what the programs actually _were_ , so she opted to tune into a morning news program.

During the hour before breakfast arrived, Sunset continued her research, beginning with learning the difference between the three major forms of television transmission. As she read, she kept half an ear open to the news; occasionally, she would look up something that was talked about on television. Breakfast today was different from yesterday's offering, consisting of a large, flaky, buttery croissant, two strips of crispy bacon, more of those slightly off scrambled eggs, and a bowl of thin, watery farina. There was also a small fruit cup with some peaches in heavy syrup, as well as the same milk and orange juice from the day before. There were salt and pepper packets, sugar packets, and a packet of strawberry cream cheese spread. The latter was obviously meant for the croissant, but as Sunset looked her breakfast over, she decided the farina probably needed it more, so she carefully opened the perforated notch at the end and squeezed the entire tube into it, then stirred it with her spoon. For good measure, she added sugar as well, then carefully emptied the salt and pepper onto her eggs.

"Getting better at this," she mused happily to herself as she ate. The bacon had an interesting taste to it; once she was done eating, she decided to look up bacon on the Internet to find out what the difference was between bacon here and bacon in Equestria.

By the time they came to clear her tray, Sunset knew just how much animal flesh she'd consumed in the past day, to say nothing of what animals humans routinely consumed. It took her a good half hour to wrestle with the implications, but further research told her animals in this world—including equines, which mercifully were not normally used for food—were not sapient, and humans had been hunting animals for food and, later, raising them as livestock since the beginning of recorded history.

 _*Well, Sunset...you're human now, so if that's what humans do,*_ she told herself. Besides, her stomach and taste buds certainly weren't complaining.

Unbidden, a mental image of the now-human Celestia entered her mind, scowling disapprovingly at her for participating in anything as barbaric as eating meat. _*Oh, shut up, you old nag, you're in the same boat I'm in.*_ The mental image of a disapproving Celestia changed to one of Celestia salivating over a hapless cow, knife and fork clenched in her hands. Sunset giggled.

"You're in a good mood this morning."

It was the young doctor from the day before. She coughed, suppressing her giggle fit. "Just...a silly thought," she said.

"Well, nothing wrong with that," the doctor said. He glanced at the TV and rolled his eyes. "The news again?"

Sunset shrugged. "I don't remember what I used to watch on TV, or if I even watched TV at all," she said. "I checked the schedule, but I don't even know what any of the shows they have on this morning are, so..." She gestured vaguely.

"Hmm." The doctor examined his tablet, brow furrowed. "Yyyyyeah, I see where you appear to be having some memory trouble that's not related to any injury." He gave her a mock-stern look. "You sure you're not just faking it for sympathy?"

Now it was Sunset's turn to roll her eyes. "Do I look like the kind of girl who'd do that?"

The doctor shrugged. "Honestly, you look like the kind of girl guys like me used to have crushes on in high school. The kind of girl that isn't very nice about shooting you down in the middle of the hallway, where all the other kids can hear and point and laugh..." He trailed off, ducking his gaze. "I, uhh...I'll just be...rounds." He turned and left the room in a rush.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. "That was weird." Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the news, which had just segued into the weather forecast. Fluffy Clouds was back on, and he looked excited and a bit harassed.

"Well, folks, you know what they say about the weather," Fluffy Clouds said with a chuckle. "Our five-day forecast has changed significantly ever since a storm front decided to develop over the plains yesterday. That storm system should be moving in around Thursday; heavy rains, strong, gusty winds, and thunder are on tap from Thursday around noon to late Friday. The system should make its way out of our area overnight Friday, so the weekend will be partly cloudy and humid..."

Sunset tuned the rest of the weather forecast out. She picked up her tablet, intent on doing more research, but found that her eyes were tired and blurry. "Ugh," she muttered. "Been reading this thing too long..." She closed her Internet browser and studied the assorted apps on her tablet. Her gaze lingered on the Music app. "Hmm..."

She glanced at the TV, which was now droning on about financial news. She turned down the volume on the TV, then tapped the Music app.

 **You have no music in your Library.**  
 _You can add music through the Music Store or start your 90-day free trial of BlueTunes, which streams a wide selection of music to your device wherever, whenever. Choose your favorite genre, your favorite band, or just tune in to one of our many Internet radio streams! Like what you hear? Buy it and download it to your device with one touch! Start your free trial of BlueTunes now?_

Sunset thought about that for a minute, then shrugged. "Well, if it's a free trial..."

She touched 'Yes'.

 _Congratulations! Your free trial of BlueTunes has started. You now have access to tens of thousands of songs from every genre of music! Enjoy!_  
 **Note: In order to purchase music, a payment method must be associated with your account.**

"I'll talk to Mom and Dad about that later," Sunset muttered as she studied the screen that popped up next. It was full of little video thumbnails, news blurbs, categories, and music stream titles. On a whim, she touched 'Classic Hits'. After a brief loading period, the tablet's small but powerful speakers burst to life with a fast drum beat and hard, fast guitar rhythms. A male singer crooned over the loud, aggressive music. A glance at the screen told Sunset she was listening to a band called 'Nipmuc', whatever that meant.

Sunset knew what rock and roll was. Her distant aunt Stormy Flare would often bring her pegasus cousin Spitfire whenever she visited, and Spitfire always brought rock records with her. _*At least, she used to...before I stopped taking visitors...*_ Rock and roll was an interesting thing; it was so different from the stuffy string quartets and chamber music of Canterlot. The ponies who played it and the ponies who listened to it were _enjoying_ themselves without caring how loud, obnoxious, or strange they sounded.

Sunset nodded her head along with the beat; when the song began to fade out, she tapped the little button on the screen that said 'More from this artist'. Another Nipmuc song started, and Sunset laid the tablet in her lap, idly tapping her toes under the sheets to the beat of the music.

She'd listened to several songs when Dr. Swab came in to check on her. "Well, you look like you're having fun," he said.

Sunset nodded. "I've never just sat and listened to music for this long before," she said. "Especially not this."

"Well, I have to say you've got good taste," Dr. Swab said. "Nipmuc got me through every study session for every exam I ever took in college and medical school." He checked some things on his tablet. "How are your ribs?"

"Still sore, but I've figured out how not to aggravate them."

Dr. Swab nodded. "And your memory problems?"

Sunset shook her head. "Still nothing. I spent most of the night just using the Internet to figure out where the heck I even _am_."

Dr. Swab pressed his lips into a thin line. "Well, you seem to remember how to do _that_ at least."

Sunset shook her head. "Learned how last night, from the instruction manual that came with the tablet. And from Mom and Dad, of course."

"Ah." Dr. Swab nodded thoughtfully. "Well, listen. This afternoon, after your session with Dr. Slate, I've got you scheduled for one more test. We're going to do an MRI just to make sure there isn't something going on the CT scan missed. After that..." He glanced at his clipboard. "I think we're going to keep you for observation until about Friday, give you time to talk to Dr. Slate a little more, eat a little more of our world-class hospital food...use the hell out of our hospital wi-fi, apparently," he added with a smirk. "After that, I think you'll be good to go home, but you'll have to go to your family doctor once a week or so until those ribs are good and healed, and Dr. Slate might want you to follow up with a therapist every week or so. That sound good?"

Sunset shrugged. "Whatever I gotta do," she said. "All I care about right now is starting over."

"Good girl," Dr. Swab said, clapping her on the shoulder. "Well, I'll let you get back to your Nipmuc now. Dr. Slate should be in to see you in about...an hour and a half, looks like, and they'll get you for that MRI later this afternoon." He tapped his tablet a couple of times, then left the room.

Sunset smiled, picked up her tablet, and opened her Internet browser, feeling she'd given her eyes enough rest. It was time to get back to work.

When Sunset's parents arrived at the hospital, they were met by Dr. Swab. "How's she doing today, Doctor?" Desert Sunrise asked.

"Better, it seems," Dr. Swab said. "I just checked in on her about an hour ago, she's in good spirits. Still claims she doesn't remember anything. She has a session with Dr. Slate in about an hour, but I'm sure she's looking forward to seeing you." He checked his tablet, then added, "by the way, we're having some difficulty getting her medical records from Fillydelphia."

Desert frowned. "Is that a problem?"

"Well, not especially," Dr. Swab said. "It's really more for our files. We just need to know if there's anything in particular we should be aware of."

Satin shrugged. "Not really," she said. "Up until she... _left_ , Sunset almost never got sick. I mean, other than the usual things kids go through. She wasn't on any medication, she didn't have allergies..." She looked at Desert. "Right?"

Desert scratched his cheek. "As far as I can remember," he said.

"I figured as much," Dr. Swab said. "She's as healthy as a horse, but I just wanted to double-check." He smiled reassuringly. "Go on back and see her. Last I checked, she'd found the music app on her tablet."

Satin's lips quirked in a smile. "Oh dear. That'll get expensive."

Desert chuckled. "I don't mind." Putting an arm around his wife and nodding to the doctor, he headed down the hall to Sunset's room.

They found her absorbed in the tablet, nodding her head along to the beat of some rock song. "Good morning, dear!" Satin called.

Sunset looked up and smiled. "Hey," she said. She tapped the tablet twice, and the music stopped.

"How're you feeling?" Satin asked.

"Pretty good," Sunset said. "Still sore."

Desert reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a smartphone, which he handed to Sunset. "Brought you another little something," he said.

Sunset's eyes lit up as she took it. "Thank you!"

"It's already charged," Satin said as she dug the charger out of her handbag. "I spent last night setting some things up on it, putting our numbers in, installing some apps." She handed Sunset a slip of paper. "There's the lock code."

Sunset studied it, then took a moment to figure out how to wake up and unlock the phone. She glanced over the apps. "Not too different from the tablet," she said.

"It can do a lot of the same things," Desert said. "I'll need to sync a few things for you since I get the feeling you'll be wanting to download music."

Sunset laughed. "Yeah, I sorta found the music app," she said. "That's okay, right?"

"Of course it is," Desert said. "Don't go too overboard, though. I'll set that up for you too, maybe figure out a monthly allowance for music and videos."

"Thanks."

A brief silence descended as Sunset familiarized herself with her new phone. Satin coughed. "Do you...do you remember anything? Is there anything you want to talk about?"

Sunset looked up and shook her head, frowning slightly. "Sorry," she said. "I wish I did."

Satin and Desert both looked slightly disappointed, but smiled reassuringly. "It's...it's alright," Satin said. "Maybe it's for the best if we all just start over."

Sunset smiled. "I'd like that," she said.

They talked for a while about different things, with Satin telling Sunset about the house they lived in now, and Sunset asking questions about school and a few things she'd looked up on the Internet. They'd been talking for a good forty minutes when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. "Come in," Sunset called.

A balding, paunchy man with pale gray skin and dark charcoal hair walked into the room. "Hope I'm not intruding," he said. "Hello, Sunset! How are we feeling today?"

"Better," Sunset said. "Mom, Dad, this is Dr. Slate."

Satin made to rise. "We'll just wait in the cafeteria until you're—"

Dr. Slate raised a hand to stall her. "No need," he said. "Actually, I'd prefer the two of you stay for today's session. If that's okay with you, Sunset?"

"Of course," Sunset said with a smile. She set her tablet aside and folded her hands atop her table.

Dr. Slate was looking at his own tablet. "Have you remembered anything new?" he asked.

Sunset shook her head. "Sorry. Still a total blank."

Dr. Slate nodded. "For the record, tell me exactly what you know about yourself and your family."

Sunset's brow furrowed. "My name is Sunset Shimmer. I'm fifteen years old. My parents are Desert Sunrise and Sunset Satin. Two nights ago I was hit by my dad's car, and I woke up here in this hospital. We're in Canterlot." She swallowed. "Apparently, two years ago I ran away from home." She shook her head. "That's everything."

"No memories of the first thirteen years of your life, no knowledge of where you've been for the last two years?"

Sunset shook her head again, frowning. "I don't know _anything_ ," she repeated. "I don't remember where I've been, or what my home looked like, or what the neighborhood was like. I don't remember if I had any friends." She shrugged and waved a hand vaguely at the television. "I don't know what any of the shows on TV are. I see things advertised—foods, sodas, candy, all kinds of stuff—and I can't remember ever having used any of it." She looked down at her hands. "All I remember is running," she said in a soft, sad tone.

Desert and Satin took each other's hands and squeezed them tightly.

Dr. Slate nodded, then leaned forward. "Are you absolutely sure?" he asked. "You're sure there's nothing else you remember? At all? Try."

Sunset closed her eyes, her brow furrowing. After a moment, she shook her head. "I remember a white horse," she said. She opened her eyes. "That's it."

"A white horse?" Dr. Slate asked, raising an eyebrow. At Sunset's nod, he continued, "Where did you see the white horse?"

"I don't remember."

"Were you running from the white horse?"

"I'm not sure," Sunset said. "I might have been." She shook her head. "It's all I can remember."

Desert frowned. "A white horse..." He scratched his nose. "I hit Sunset not too far from Canterlot High School. Could the white horse be that statue out front?"

Dr. Slate scratched his chin. "It could be," he said. "Sunset?"

Sunset shrugged helplessly. "Like I said, I don't really remember."

"Mm-hmm." Dr. Slate wrote on his tablet for a minute. "By the way, I hear you seem to be more comfortable in your skin today. Yesterday, I was hearing reports of you having trouble with basic tasks like opening sugar packets and using the bathroom."

Sunset grimaced. "Yeah, I don't know what was going on with me yesterday," she said. "I guess today I just feel more...human."

"Well, we all have those off days," Dr. Slate said blandly. "Now, Sunset, I have one more very important question for you."

Sunset folded her hands and waited patiently.

"When you're released from the hospital, what is it you hope to do?"

Sunset shrugged. "Go home, get to know Mom and Dad all over again, start my life all over." She grimaced. "Probably spend all day every day studying if I ever plan to go back to school. I was on the Internet all night and everything I read was new to me."

"But you do remember how to read," Dr. Slate asked.

Sunset nodded. "Of course."

Dr. Slate's brow furrowed. "What's seven plus nine?"

"Sixteen."

"Five times twelve?"

"Sixty."

"Square root of eighty-one?"

"Nine."

"Hmm." Dr. Slate made some more notes, then drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair. He glanced at his watch. "Well, they'll be bringing your lunch any minute, and your MRI is scheduled for after lunch. I do have one or two more patients to check on, so I think I'll get out of your hair for now. I'll see you again tomorrow, okay?"

Sunset nodded.

Dr. Slate stood and looked at Sunset's parents. "If you two wouldn't mind, I'd like to meet with you later today...let's say around two? Just ask for my office at reception."

"Of course," Desert said.

Dr. Slate smiled reassuringly. "I just want to ask some questions to compare the Sunset you knew before she ran away to the Sunset we have with us now," he said. "Just to get a general grasp of the whole picture." With that, he left.

Desert checked his watch. "I think we should go grab lunch ourselves," he told Satin. "We'll be back later this afternoon, okay?"

Sunset nodded. "I'll be here," she said.

Fifteen minutes past two, Desert and Satin sat across from Dr. Slate, who was scrolling through his notes, his face impassive. Satin wrung her hands nervously; Desert fidgeted uncomfortably.

After far too long, Dr. Slate sighed and looked up. "There are two possibilities here," he said. "She's telling the truth and she really has no memories of her life, or she's lying."

Desert slumped a little in his seat. "That's all you have to say?" he asked testily.

Dr. Slate frowned. "That's how it breaks down, Mr. Sunrise," he said. "Honestly, going by the observations I have from Nurse Pill and Dr. Wiener, I'm inclined to believe she's telling the truth. Dissociative amnesia..." He leaned back in his chair and sighed. "It's a tricky thing." He steepled his fingers atop his generous belly. "Malingerers always have telltale signs of deception. Sometimes those signs are an absence of signs. The things a polygraph would pick up, certain eye movements, anything a scared kid trying to stay out of trouble..." He shook his head. "Things you don't even need to have training to read. In a girl Sunset's age, you'd normally see those signs if she were putting on an act, unless she's exceptionally clever. In which case, you'd see anything _but_ those signs." He looked at his notes again. "What I'm seeing here and what I've observed from talking to her is telling me something else entirely. I'm seeing a girl who has forgotten _civilization._ She's a lot more savvy today than she was yesterday, but I asked the nurses to keep an eye on her, and she's been using that tablet you got her almost nonstop. Not to play games or watch videos, but to read. She's studying."

"Studying what?" Satin asked. "Studying how to pretend to have amnesia?"

"I think it's more..." Dr. Slate shrugged. "You heard about her bathroom incident, right? And how she seems to have come in here lacking certain basic daily skills."

"So we heard," Desert said, frowning. "My wife is even convinced Sunset didn't know how to open a soda bottle on her own yesterday."

Dr. Slate nodded. "Well, a lot of those little signs are markers of a type of dissociative amnesia we informally call Ape Boy Syndrome. It's the complete breakdown of any remembrance of civilization and self, a regression to a feral state. You see it in very young survivors of plane or ship crashes, or occasionally in homeless people with dementia. The problem here is that Sunset speaks clearly, recognizes the two of you, knows her own name, and clearly has not lost the skills to read and understand complex concepts." He sighed. "I've honestly never heard of a case that matches her specific situation. There's no discernible head trauma, she's physically in perfect condition aside from the injuries that put her in here in the first place, but for all intents and purposes, it's almost as if she's relearning how to be human." He shrugged. "She could still be faking this whole thing, but at this point, that tablet gives her an alibi that makes _any_ inconsistency in her story impossible to catch."

Satin frowned. "Should we not have given it to her?"

Dr. Slate shook his head. "I'm not saying that at all. If anything, that was the best thing for her, since she's using it to learn. The only problem there is that _because_ she's using it to fill in a lot of blanks, and _because_ she's astoundingly sharp-minded, I don't think it's possible to tell whether or not her amnesia is real anymore. Like I said, either it's real and all she needs to do is learn how to be Sunset Shimmer again, or she's faking it for reasons we may never know." He spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "My official, professional recommendation? You've got your daughter back. God knows that in and of itself is a miracle. There are thousands of runaways whose families will never see them again, will never know what happened to them. I'm sure at least half of them wind up in the morgue, nameless and forgotten."

Desert and Satin shifted uneasily. "So...we should just give up? On ever knowing what really happened?"

Dr. Slate shrugged. "That's up to you. Should she continue to see a therapist once she leaves the hospital? Absolutely. I'd say once a week until September, then see where it goes from there. But until she's ready to remember—or admit to remembering—where she's been and what she's been doing for the last two years, there isn't anything anyone can do. There's no magic mind fix button for something like this. The cure has to come from inside her. And it may never come. You may have to accept that the person sitting in that bed is not the same person who disappeared two years ago. That may be a completely different Sunset Shimmer with a radically different personality, different moods, different interests, different behavior. Who she was before, whatever it is she's running from, that's gone. It could come back with time, or it could be gone forever." He stared intently at the two people sitting across from him. "I cannot stress this enough: do **not** try to 'force' her back to 'normal'. Don't try to trick her into slipping up and revealing a memory. Don't try to coerce her into telling you something. Let her be, and if she remembers—if she _wants_ to remember, and if she _wants_ to tell you or her therapist the truth—it has to come from her. It has to be something she is willing to do."

Desert and Satin exchanged an discomfited glance.

"So what you're saying," Desert said slowly, "is that we've got our daughter back, but the last fifteen years of her life are just gone? Just like that? She's starting over again?"

"Essentially, yes."

Satin took her husband's hand and squeezed it. "Maybe...this is for the best," she said. "A clean start for all of us."

Desert sighed. "You're probably right..."

The remainder of the week passed relatively quickly. Between long visits from her parents, the MRI (which had been an interesting experience), sessions with Dr. Slate, and visits from the various doctors and nurses for one thing or another, Sunset had continued her studies online, listened to more music—she discovered several more rock bands she liked, a few pop singers she could tolerate, and developed an intense loathing for rap—and started learning more about what was popular on television, taking care to pay closer attention to the currently airing programs, as well as watching a few older movies that were repeated on the cable channels. Thursday saw heavy rain and thunderstorms; Sunset watched the rain lash against the window and the lightning flash bright in the dark sky.

It was still raining Friday afternoon when Dr. Swab brought Sunset's discharge papers for her parents to sign. That police officer had shown up again and had had a heated exchange with Desert Sunrise, but someone from the hospital staff had shown up with a stack of affidavits for Sunset and her parents to sign, and once Dr. Slate signed off on her release, whatever legal hangups remained concerning her "runaway" status evidently dissolved, because the officer left with a terse apology.

"What was up _his_ butt?" Sunset wondered.

Dr. Swab shook his head. "He thinks you're playing everyone for fools, doesn't believe your story. Thing is, the rest of us just want you back with your family and there really isn't one good reason to keep that from happening, so he has to file an incomplete report and get chewed out by his supervisor." He smiled gently. "None of which is your problem. You just focus on getting your life back in order."

Sunset nodded. "Okay."

Sunset was wheeled out of the hospital at just past four and helped into her parents' car, wearing a new shirt and jeans her mother had bought her, as well as the jacket and boots she had come out of the portal in—the jacket had taken a bit of a beating, but still looked good. She'd been advised against wearing a bra for a few weeks, which was fine with her; she still needed to learn how to deal with human undergarments.

By the time they pulled into the driveway of a medium-sized suburban house, the rain had let up, leaving the streets slick and the sky gloomy grey. Sunset got out of the car and looked the house over; it was a one-story brick affair with a few shade trees in the front and a nice flower garden. Once they went inside, Desert announced he was ordering pizza for dinner and asked Sunset what she wanted on it.

"Anything's fine," she said. "Whatever you guys want." _*Since I have no idea what pizza toppings this world has...I've only had pizza once in my entire life, and that was back in Equestria.*_

"I'll show you to your room," Satin said. "Get you settled in, then you can rest up while we wait for the pizza."

Sunset's room was decorated in magenta and mahogany, and full of things she didn't recognize. "We brought all your things with you from our old home," Satin said. "I set your room up exactly like it was in Fillydelphia..." She frowned. "Does anything look familiar?"

Sunset shook her head as she took in the large bed, the dresser, the various posters on the walls, a shelf full of knick-knacks, a medium-sized flatscreen TV, and a laptop computer. "I don't recognize any of it," she said. "Sorry."

Satin sighed. "Well, it was worth a shot." She smiled gamely. "Anyway, I had another cable box put in yesterday for you, so you've got cable. Just don't order any movies or events without permission. The laptop...it's a bit out of date since it's your old one from Fillydelphia, but between the tablet and the phone, I think you can make do. If you need a new one for school later, we can see about it, but at least it'll connect to the home wi-fi." She paused. "You might want to look through the files on it. Maybe it'll...help."

Sunset nodded. "I will," she said. She glanced at the TV and the sleek, shiny box with a clock display on the front sitting next to it. "So we've got digital cable?"

"That's right," Satin said brightly. "I know you always wanted us to get digital, but back then..." She suddenly flung herself at Sunset, wrapping her up in a hug that sent pain shooting through her ribs. "Oh god, _I can't believe you're home!_ "

"MOM! MOM! RIBS!" Sunset cried, tears of pain leaking from her eyes.

"SORRY!" Satin backed away abruptly, eyes wide. "Sorry," she said.

Sunset smiled a strained smile. "It's okay," she said hoarsely, grimacing. "It's okay."

"I'll get you an ice pack and one of your pain pills," Satin said. "Just...just sit down and rest. I'm sorry. I...I'm sorry." She backed out of the room quickly.

Sunset rolled her eyes and eased herself down into the padded plastic desk chair, wincing slightly as she settled her weight. She glanced around and found the TV remote. After she turned it on, it only took her a minute to figure out how to work the cable guide. She idly browsed the listings, drumming the fingers of her free hand on the desk.

Satin returned with a glass of ice water, an ice pack, and a pill. Sunset gratefully swallowed the pill and finished off most of the water in one gulp, then let her mother fuss over her as she settled the ice pack into place. "It'll be about thirty minutes until dinner gets here," she said.

Sunset nodded. "I'll just relax here until then," she said.

Satin smiled. "Welcome home, Sunset." She backed out of the room, pulling the door halfway closed behind her.

Sunset listened for her footsteps to retreat. She then smiled wickedly, allowing herself a low chuckle. "Well, that's that," she said. "Sorry, other me. Wherever you are, I'm you now." She leaned back, glancing at the laptop. "Maybe tomorrow, I'll see if I can find out more about you, but in the meantime..."

As she found something to watch—some show about a man with a talking car—she let out a sigh. "I still need to learn more about this world, but for now, I think I can afford to take a few days just to relax and get used to this new life." She frowned. "But as soon as my ribs heal, I need to figure out what happened to Celestia." She grimaced. "I hope the old nag found a way to survive here. I can't humiliate her if she's lying dead in a gutter."

A brief pang of guilt flashed through her heart. She squeezed her eyes shut. "Equestria," she whispered. "I never meant to put Equestria in danger..."

Hot tears stung her eyes. She furiously wiped them free. "No, little miss pretty in pink can figure out how to keep Equestria from..." She swallowed. "She'll figure out how to raise the sun. If she can't, then she's the most useless alicorn ever."

Even so, guilt over the fate of Equestria without Celestia continued to gnaw at her for the rest of the evening, leaving her in a somber and sullen mood. Her parents dismissed it as simply feeling down about her memory loss; they did their best to cheer her up, but she barely even registered the taste of the two slices of pizza she ate before heading to bed for the night.

 _*You'd damn well better be alive, you old nag...*_

Hours had passed since Sunset Shimmer's discharge. It was a half hour until shift change. Dr. Swab was staring at Sunset Shimmer's scan results from three days earlier, face troubled.

"How the _hell_ did we miss that," Dr. Swab said flatly, running his hands through his hair before biting the knuckles on his left hand.

"What's wrong?" Sugar Pill asked. "Looks like she's completely healthy to me, except for the ribs."

Dr. Swab zoomed in on the abdominal scan. Sugar Pill looked it over, then gave him a confused shrug. "What?"

Dr. Swab pointed at one area. "Her appendix."

Sugar Pill tilted her head. "Looks okay to me."

Shaking his head, Dr. Swab handed her his tablet and walked across the room, sitting down and lacing his hands behind his head.

Frowning, Sugar Pill studied the screen. It displayed Sunset Shimmer's medical records from Fillydelphia, which they had only received an hour before her discharge.

It took a minute for her to see the problem. When she did, her eyes widened. "What the hell?" She shook her head, turning to Dr. Swab. "This can't be right!"

Dr. Swab looked up at her. "Can't it?" he asked. "I mean, sure, it could be a mistake. Clerical error." He shook his head.

Sugar Pill's brow furrowed as she read the anomalous entry again. "But if she had...when she was seven, then...what...?" She looked from the tablet, to the MRI results, to Dr. Swab. "Doctor, this has to be a mistake. It _has_ to be."

"I sure as hell hope so," Dr. Swab said, looking up at her with the most haunted eyes she'd ever seen on the man. "Because if it's not, then the girl we just sent home with Sunset Shimmer's parents...is _not_ Sunset Shimmer."

A heavy silence descended.

"So...what do we do?" Sugar Pill asked in a quiet, uncertain voice.

Dr. Swab let out a sharp bark of sardonic laughter. "I don't know," he choked out in a disbelieving chuckle. "I don't know..."

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter see you in 10/5/17 and the next chapter.**


End file.
